Ransom
by Tyler743
Summary: Ever since Naruto has become Hokage he's been too busy with work to pay any attention to his son, Bolt. After one aggravating day, Bolt wishes that he didn't have his family, only to later find himself kidnapped for leverage against the Hokage. It's true what they say, you don't know what you have until it's gone. (Bolt/Sarada friendship) (slight Naruhina) (slight Sasusaku)
1. Chapter 1

**This started off as an idea for a Naruhina fic, and completely transformed into a next gen fic xD really hope you guy's enjoy it, I don't think it will be very long, but it should be worth the read, I hope ! Enjoy and please review to let me know :3**

**I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. **

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><p><em>Today is the day.<em>

Bright skies, warm spring air, birds singing in the distance, anyone would agree that it was the perfect day for something wonderful to happen. And that was exactly what Bolt Uzumaki was expecting for his graduation day from the academy. A wonderful day.

Today was his first day as Genin; he was no longer the young, amateur ninja-in-training who was bound to sit for long lectures, answer stupid questions, complete nightly homework and read boring text books. No, now it would be all action and training for the real world of ninja. Now he could finally go out on missions, kick serious butt, and show the world what he was made of. That is if his team was also as kickass as he was, and he honestly doubted that.

His sensei, Konohamaru Sarutobi was strict, and as far as Bolt was concerned, didn't know what the word fun actually meant. Then there was his bossy, man hating cousin, Sarada Uchiha. In fact the two weren't actually cousins, but their families were amazingly close, so they had been raised as family, unfortunately. And lastly was Han Lee, the village's goofball. All in all his team was a little…disadvantaged, but that wasn't going to bring down his mood, not today.

Bolt dashed out of his bedroom of the large Hyuuga estate house, pulling the zipper of his black sweater all the way up to his neck and running down the hallway quicker than he probably should. He reached the stairs in no time, stopping a few feet before hand so that his socked feet could slide across the hardwood until he reached the banister. Wrapping a hand around it and flew down the stairs, unfortunately too fast to stop himself before crashing into someone who had been walking past the bottom of them.

"OOF!" Bolt moaned, bouncing backwards from the crash and landing on his behind on one of the stairs, his eyes clenched tightly.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to run down the stairs Bolt," a deep voice sighed. "One of these day's you're going to hurt yourself, or someone else."

Bolt opened his eyes and looked up to see his father, Naruto Uzumaki standing there, arms thrown on his hips, one blonde eyebrow raised high.

"Sorry dad." He apologized with a smile before jumping to his feet. "I'm just way too excited!"

Naruto smiled, all anger seemed to be lost, and ruffled his sons hair with his bandaged right hand. Bolt laughed and pushed his hand away. "That's right! The ceremony is today isn't it?"

Naruto started to walk away down the hall, his son at his heels.

"Yup! At ten! You're going to come right?"

The two men strode into a large, open kitchen, only to find Naruto's wife and Bolt's mother, Hinata Uzumaki serving plates of pancakes onto the table, waiting for her family to come and eat, and Bolt's younger sister Himawari already digging into a plate of her own. They both looked up.

"Daddy!" Himawari chimed, her cheeks filled with food. Naruto walked over to her and gave her a large kiss on her forehead, which only made her jump and flail in her seat. Bolt took the seat beside her just in time for his mother put a plate down in front of him. He began to shovel the food into his mouth like a madman.

"Good morning boys," Hinata said with a smile before Naruto pulled her into a kiss which caused Bolt to make a gagging noise and Himawari to giggle uncontrollably.

"Morning ladies," Naruto pulled away from her, grabbing a file of papers from the table.

"Are you leaving…?" Hinata asked when he started back to the hallway. "You can't have breakfast?"

Naruto shook his head with a frown. "No, I'm sorry. I'm a little bit behind on paperwork, and Shikamaru's literally been down my throat to get it done by tonight."

"That's too bad."

Bolt quickly took hold of the glass of water that was sitting beside his plate and chugged it before wiping his mouth off with his sleeve. "But dad, you are going to make it today right?" he repeated, giving his father a forlorn look.

Naruto looked back at him and gave him a faint smile. "I promise I'll try my best to make it, Bolt. I really promise."

Bolt's mood faltered slightly, and his eyes narrowed as his father waved his goodbye and disappeared down the hallway, Himawari yelling "Bye bye daddy, have a good day at work!" behind him.

"He always says that…"Bolt mumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. Hinata sat down across from him with a cup of hot tea in her hands.

"Bolt-kun, try to understand, you're father is very busy with work. I know for sure he will try his very best to make it today."

Bolt looked up at his mother who gave him her usual light, loving smile. He could never stay mad when she did that and he sighed. Sure he did understand that his dad was busy with work, but this was a once in a lifetime thing, he was only going to graduate from the academy once, and everyone else's parents were going to be there.

"Beside's big brother," Himawari added, her bright blue eyes gleaming at Bolt. "Me and mommy are going to be there for sure! So we can cheer you on."

_ Lucky me…_ Bolt thought sarcastically as he looked back at his sister. But he knew she was right. He supposed he would have them; it just wasn't really the same without his father figure.

Hinata told Bolt to brush his teeth and hurry to school or else he would be late for his last day, so he did, making sure to grab his new, shiny headband off the cupboard before he left and tying it securely around his forehead. Hinata gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, much to his dismay, and Himawari gave him her usually goodbye hug, which always ended up more like a goodbye hang off your brother until your mother basically had to peel you off type of thing.

Luckily it only took ten minutes to run to the academy from the Hyuuga compound or else Bolt would have been late for his last day. Running into the classroom only seconds before Shino Aburame-sensei arrived was just pure luck, and he skidded to his seat in the back of the class room beside his two best friends, Inojin Yamanaka and Shikadai Nara.

"Cutting it a little close…" Shikadai said with a yawn, the side of his face resting in the palm of his hand whose arm was leaning on the table. Bolt puffed out a gust of air, blowing his bangs slightly off of his headband.

"I made it didn't I, so what does it matter?"

Shikadai shrugged his shoulders and his eyes drifted closed. Inojin who was sitting in between Shikadai and Bolt was neatly organizing his pens, erasers, and notebooks in front of him. Bolt frowned.

"Inojin…you do know it's our last day right? We probably won't be taking notes."

The blonde nodded his head in agreement before turning to look at the Uzumaki. "I know," he said with another nod. "But I want to play it safe, just in case."

"Alright class," Shino shouted over everyone in the class, who were all much too excited to be paying attention. "As you know-"

"LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!" someone in the front row yelled excitedly.

The reaction of the class was predictable. Every one of the students took off into a cheering frenzy. Papers were being crumpled and thrown across the room, children were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it was pure chaos. Shino stood still in his place, sighing only once, ecstatic for the moment when they would no longer be his problem. Only one student sat at her desk, hands folded in front of her, eyes narrowing at the others around her. Sarada Uchiha. Child prodigy and heir to the Uchiha clan, daughter of Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha, of course this sort of behaviour was well out of class.

"Hey salad!"

A crumpled piece of paper flew from across the room and hit her in the side of the head, making her glasses fall askew on her nose. Finally moving from her droned placement Sarada fixed her glasses and whipped her head around to see Bolt and Shikadai smiling wide eyed at her. Inojin however was looking awkwardly down at his paper, a look of guilt washed over his pale face.

"Aren't you excited about this being our last day?" Shikadai questioned over to her. Bolt shook his head.

"Knowing her, she's probably disappointed. Book worm." He said without waiting for her to respond. The two boys laughed. Sarada merely closed her eyes and stuck her nose into the air, looking away from them. She didn't have time for stupid boys like them, not ever.

"Everyone…" Shino tried to yell above the screaming students, trying to bring them back down into a peaceful classroom setting. "I really think…"

But just then, the door opened and everyone went completely silent. Konohamaru Sarutobi, along with Bolt's aunt and Hinata's sister, Hanabi, and another sensei's that Bolt didn't recognize walked into the room. Konohamaru scowled.

"Shino, shouldn't you be preparing everyone for later?" he questioned, looking at the crumpled up pieces of paper that now decorated the room. Shino nodded.

"Yes, I was about to do that." he muttered. Konohamaru nodded then looked at all of the kids in front of him. It was Bolt's turn to scowl.

"I don't know why I got stuck with a stick in the mud like him…"he whispered to Inojin. Inojin shrugged.

"My mom said he used to be a pretty reckless guy." He whispered back.

"I wonder what happened…"

"Bolt Uzumaki!"

Bolt jumped at the sound of his name and his eyes widened. Had he heard him? There was no way. Every eye in the room was now on the blonde, scared for what the older nin had to say. Sarada however had a satisfied smile plastered to her face.

"Y-yes sir?"

Konohamaru's mouth pulled up into a small smirk and he side glanced Hanabi who was also smiling.

"Looking forward to seeing you at the ceremony. Try not to do anything stupid for once."

Snickers rang out through the room and Bolt released a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. _Why would he do that? That bastard._

The three sensei's talked to the newly appointed genin for a while, giving them the low down on exactly how the ceremony would go, what they were supposed to do, where they were supposed to be and when, that sort of thing. It sounded quite boring to Bolt to be honest, they had to wait while Aburame sensei, and the other academy teachers did their own speeches, then they had to walk up one at a time by alphabetical order and take a little measly certificate saying they graduated, then they had to stay for refreshments (which honestly was probably going to be the best part). But what he didn't understand was why they could just get the damn certificate and go. In and out, just as easy as that. It was going to be a long ceremony, a few hours at least, but at least he would be a fully fledged ninja by the end of it.

By the time they were finished explaining everything and took some questions, it was already 9:30. Shino decided to let the students take a free half an hour in the classroom to do whatever they wanted, which was probably what they were going to do regardless.

Bolt stayed with his two friends, and the three of them talked about going on missions, and fighting enemies and doing all kinds of cool ninja stuff that they would in fact soon be doing. Before any of them knew it, it was time to head outside to where the ceremony was being held.

A large stage had been set up where the students would walk up and receive their certificates, and in front of that rows and rows of seats where the kids would sit until their name was called. Parents were already starting to show up by the time Shino had brought the students out to the seats and arranged them in alphabetical order.

Of course Bolt was stuck in between this loud mouthed girl named Hana Ugaki who he had never really talked to or even acknowledged for that matter and Sarada. Once seated, he scanned the crowd of adults desperately trying to find his family. He saw Inojin's parents right away, and Shikadai's mother, and even Han Lee's dad, who strangely looked legitimately just like the older version of himself. After a few minutes however he did manage to find his mother and sister who were waving brightly to him, but sure enough, no Naruto.

"Big surprise…" he grumbled slumping back into his seat, ignoring his other family members and crossing his arms. Sarada looked at him over her glasses.

"You're dad's not here?" she asked.

"Nope." his answer was cold. She frowned.

"He will be, he's the Hokage, he has to show up to the ceremony to award the diplomas."

Bolt hadn't thought about this, but she sounded right. Naruto was the leader of the damn village. Who better to appoint people as ninja then the villages' Kage, the leader, the top ninja? He was probably just getting ready somewhere. Bolt scooted up in his chair, a little bit more hopeful now.

The ceremony began. Most of the sensei's speeches were long, dragged out and boring beyond words. Bolt could see a few rows ahead of him that Shikadai and fallen asleep a few times as his head would snap backwards on the neck of the chair, only for a few moments however before the boy beside him would nudge him with his elbow and wake him up again. Shino Aburame's speech was probably the only short one, and the only one Bolt had any slight bit of interest in. He basically told them that it had been a pleasure teaching them and that he was going to miss them but knew they would make fine ninjas and would make their mark on the Hidden Leaf Villages History. After the speeches were finished, it was time for the students to receive their certificates. Bolt sat up on the edge of his seat, waiting for his dad to come out at any second, holding the certificates in hand. But instead, disappointment struck him when Shikadai's father, Shikamaru, Naruto's right hand came out instead.

Bolt stared for a moment in shock. _So his right hand could come but he couldn't? He's the goddamn Hokage! What is this?_

Shikamaru began calling the names, and one by one the students went up to receive their papers. Bolt watched in annoyance as each of his fellow students jumped down from the stage and ran over to their families. Until it was Sarada's turn, because when she got off the stage she went over to Hinata and Himawari. Hinata gave her a large hug.

_ Hmph, I guess her parents didn't show either…_

Bolt thought snidely, getting to his feet and sauntering as slow as he could to the stage, hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

When Shikamaru held out his certificate Bolt snatched it as quickly as he could without even giving him a second glance. Hinata and Himawari cheered loudly, clapping and wooing. Bolt slowly joined his family, or at least what was there of it.

"I am so proud of you sweetie!" Hinata cried, grabbing Bolt's cheeks between her hands and planting a soft kiss on his forehead. Bolt shook his head violently to get away from her.

"Mom, stop it!" he hissed, causing Hinata to back away with a small grin.

"Too old for that now, are you?"

"Good job big brother!" Himawari clapped her hands together. "Now you and Saranee-chan are ninja's! Just like daddy and mommy!"

Bolt's grey eyes shifted to the Uchiha who was standing with them, he wondered for a moment if he should ask where her mother was. Of course he knew that her dad was never really around, he worked out of the village and only got to come back once a month. He had thought her mother and her were pretty close though. But there was no time to be nosy. Once again his father hadn't shown up, hadn't give two fucks, and he was sick of it.

"Dad didn't come."

"Bolt-kun…he said he would try."

"Yeah, well…he didn't try hard enough."

Bolt tossed his certificate to the ground and turned on his heels, stalking off towards the food table.

He shouldn't have been that disappointed, and he shouldn't have been that surprised. His father always pulled stunts like this, it didn't matter that this was his graduation or not. And it didn't matter how many times he could say "I'll try" it never happened.

When he was younger, before his father had become the Hokage and before he was a total douchbag of a dad, Naruto and Hinata would tell Bolt and his sister stories of when they were younger, and how Naruto never went back on his promises because that was his ninja way. Bolt always believed him, thinking it was the coolest thing ever, but not anymore. Now he just thought that all of those stories were just that, stories, and Naruto was nothing like the gutsy ninja he would talk about.

Promises meant nothing to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I am really happy that so many people have liked it so far :D When people review and favorite it really, really keeps me motivated to write, so please continue to review! This chapter will have some smut in it, so if you aren't a big fan of smut please stay away D: but other than that please enjoy! Ps sorry for any spelling mistakes, and this was also my first ever smut scene...so I'm not sure how good it is, please let me know :D**

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><p>The rest of the ceremony went by in awkward silence for Bolt. He didn't speak to anyone, and instead sulked around the academy grounds while random people he didn't care about congratulated him. After that, his family and Sarada went back to his house where Hinata made hotpot for supper, Bolt's favorite. And as much as he tried to dislike the food because of his foul mood, he just couldn't, his mothers cooking was amazing. Even his grandfather, Hiashi Hyuuga stopped by to congratulate him, which cheered him up a little bit, he never got to see his grandfather and when he did the man was always very nice.<p>

Long after Himawari and Bolt had gone to bed and Sarada went home, Hinata got her and her father a cup of jasmine tea and they sat together in the living room. It had been a long time since the two of them had talked one on one, far too long, Hinata missed it a little. When she was little, she was never very close to her dad, but after Pain destroyed the leave village when she was sixteen years old something in their relationship changed and he was a little warmer towards her. They would talk, and he would encourage her, and he actually approved of her feelings towards Naruto, which he had never done before that point in time. It was nice.

"You seem to be doing very well," Hiashi said, taking a quick sip of his tea. "You have a strong family, Hinata. I am very proud."

"Thank you, father." Hinata smiled widely, taking a swig of her own tea.

"Bolt is growing into a fine ninja, although he reminds me so much of Naruto." A little chuckle escaped his lips and made Hinata nod.

"Yes, he's really the spitting image, isn't he?"

"How is the Hokage doing?"

Hinata looked down into her tea and gave her cup a little shake, causing the yellow liquid to ripple around. "He's been very busy lately; I'm worried it might all be a little too much for him…"

Hiashi placed his cup down on the coffee table in front of them with a loud click, Hinata looked up at him.

"He'll be fine. He knew what he was getting himself into, it was what he wanted. And he is very strong willed, when has he ever let anything get to him?"

"That's…true…"

The sound of a door opening somewhere down the hallway made both of the byakugan users look around.

"Hinata, I'm home." Naruto's voice, he sounded completely drained. Perhaps Hinata had been right after all. Immediately she stood, waiting for her husband to walk into the living room. Finally when he made it to them, she couldn't help herself but to frown. He slumped against the wall, allowing his head to rest on the hard plaster, his eyes drifting closed.

"Naruto-kun…are you okay?"

Hinata's voice made his eyes snap back open and he shakily stood up straight, looking around the room slightly confused. It didn't take long for his blue orbs to land on the older Hyuuga.

"Ah! Dad!" he exclaimed happily, seeming to snap out of his tiredness, and he walked over to the couch. Hiashi's expression fell to an unimpressed stifle.

"Naruto…I'll ask you again to please not call me that." He grunted. Naruto laughed and nodded.

"Sorry, sorry! I always forget you don't like it." Sure he did, Hinata was almost positive he was just waiting for the day Hiashi would allow him to get away with it, and to her understanding that was never going to happen.

"Yes, well," Hiashi tipped back his cup and finished off the rest of his tea before standing and putting the empty mug back on the coffee table. "I think I'll be off now Hinata, thank you so much for the tea."

"Of course, father."

Naruto groaned when he saw Hiashi start to head for the hallway. "What? You're leaving already? I just got here!"

Hiashi cast him a look over his shoulder, "Precisely why I am leaving." then gave a slight smile before disappearing down the hallway. Naruto frowned.

"I don't think you're dad will ever like me."

"He like's you," Hinata chuckled, walking behind Naruto and placing her hands on his shoulders. She began to lightly massage her fingers and palms into his toned, hard muscles. Naruto exhaled and relaxed into her touch. "I think he just enjoys giving you a hard time. It's his job as my father."

"Mm."

Hinata continued to massage his back for a while as silence engulfed them. She could feel how tense he was, most likely from work, and it hurt her to see him like it. Leaning down she placed light kisses on his neck, receiving yet another soft sight from her lover.

"You seem so stressed…" she whispered between kisses. He leaned his head to the side, stretching his neck to give her better access.

"It was a long day. How was the ceremony?"

Hinata stopped kissing him, causing him to turn his head around, his expression confused. She frowned at him and side stepped around the arm of the couch, sitting herself down beside him.

"Bolt was very disappointed that you didn't come." she said truthfully. Naruto understood and frowned as well, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Yeah…I guess I should have known that. I tried to get all the work done but it was just so much. I had to send Shikamaru in my place." He began to scratch the back of his neck with his hand. "I need to make it up to him somehow, don't I?"

His wife nodded her head. "I think so."

"I know!" Naruto clapped his hands together loudly, causing Hinata to shush him. He quickly apologized before continuing. "My next non busy day, I'll take him out for ramen! He love's ramen, I love ramen, that's perfect right?"

"That sounds wonderful. I'm sure he'll love that."

"Great!" Naruto's face lit up and Hinata couldn't help but gaze at his handsome features. The way his bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle when he was happy, the way his three defined whiskers pulled up when a smile spread across his cheeks, he was just perfect. For a moment she was taken back to when they were younger, when Naruto didn't have to worry about work and stress all the time, when he was always so happy and goofy. She soon found herself smiling as well, because if Naruto was happy, so was she.

She hadn't realised the way she had been staring at her husband, because without warning his eyes locked with hers and his smile fell slightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his tone worried. Snapping out of her daydream she shook her head.

"N-nothing! I was just…" Her eyes fell back into his and there was a pause. She truly loved him. She had since she was a child, and she knew that she always would, forever. No matter how much time he had to spend away because of work, never would her feelings for him die. That she knew.

Without another word, Hinata leaned forward, her long lashed eyes closing just before her soft lips brushed against his. The kiss was sweet, soft, and gentle at first. Naruto seemed to be caught a bit off guard until he finally relaxed into the kiss and his arms snaked around to the small of her back, pulling her closer to him, her own arms wrapping around his neck, her hands running through his soft short hair.

Passion.

Because whenever they were together like this it was all she could feel. Passion, love and devotion. Nothing else.

When they had first started dating, the idea of sex was always the one thing that scared Hinata more than anything. Naruto had been her first boyfriend and because she was so unconditionally in love with him, she wasn't sure if she would be good enough for him. But eventually she knew that it was what they both wanted and she put her fear aside.

Their first time was beyond awkward and uncomfortable, and yet it was still one of the best moments of her life. In the throw of the moment after a date they shared on only their second month of dating, things were taken a little too far in her bedroom of her father's estate and they ended up going all the way, only to be walked in on halfway through of course by her younger sister Hanabi. As humiliating as the situation was Hinata never once regretted it. It was a special moment between the two, the first time they became one in the pure bliss of ecstasy.

She had heard from Ino and Temari that eventually the special spark that happens during sex eventually dies, and even though it still feels amazing, it's never the same as when you first start doing it. But with Naruto, the spark never once left.

Hinata let out a squeak as Naruto collected her body into his arms and stood up from the couch, breaking the kiss.

"Naruto-kun!" she gasped when they started walking towards the stairs, she knew where they were going, most likely the bedroom. But never had he carried her up the stairs before, and although she knew he could do it, what with his firm muscular build, there was the matter of knocking into pictures on the wall, or off of door frames upstairs. "Be careful going up the stairs; make sure you don't wake up the children."

Naruto grunted and okay, his voice horse and clearly aroused. At this point he only had one thing on his mind, and it wasn't hard to tell. When they reached the bedroom Naruto first walked over to the bed and placed Hinata down carefully before returning to the door and sliding it closed, then he advanced back towards her, ripping his shirt over his head as he went.

Hinata marveled at the sight before her for a moment, feeling a blush creep over her cheeks before Naruto's lips were attacking hers once again, this time with much more force. Leaning her back until she was lying down and he was hovering on top of her, both of his hands pressed to the bed on either side of her to support himself from falling and crushing her, he ran his tongue across her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She gladly gave it to him and his tongue plunged into her mouth, running along the back of her teeth, and across her own tongue. She tasted amazing, like always. He could never get enough of her, and this to be honest was exactly what he needed after such a long, tiring day at work.

Hinata's hands moved on their own until they were clutching what they could of his hair, tugging lightly and causing him to hiss. She moaned when his mouth from her from hers and down to her neck where he nipped and sucked and kissed her soft skin.

"Na…ru…to-kun." She couldn't seem to catch her breath. It always amazed her of what he was capable of doing her, as did it him as well. His balanced himself on his right hand, and with the left moved towards her body, running his fingers lightly over the length of her body and causing her to shudder under his touch. He then moved to the hem of her shirt, where, with her help, he tugged it over her head, leaving her in nothing but her bra and skirt. His mouth went dry at the sight.

Of course he was used to seeing his wife's breasts, but never would he ever get sick of them. They were huge, almost capable of spilling out of her bra, but not quite. He could tell whenever they were out and she wore just the right clothing other men would often stare, which bugged him of course, but also set his masculine ego just a little bit higher on his charts. And to touch and kiss them was even better, because it pleased her as well.

Not wasting any time Naruto dug his hand underneath of Hinata and fumbled with the clasp. Hinata, realizing what he was trying to do arched her back so he could get better access and it took him no time to unhook it. Ripping the damn thing off, Naruto tossed it behind him to join their forgotten shirts on the floor. And there they were.

Hinata watched as Naruto stared with hunger in his eyes at her breasts. She was used to this now, but it wasn't too long ago that the situation almost made her cry of embarrassment.

Naruto lowered himself to one breast, the tip of his tongue flicking against the pink tip. Immediately Hinata cried out a short, high pitch whimper, her hands clutching his shoulders tightly. His lips pulled up into a smile and he did it again, and again, until the bud became hard and erected under his wet touch. He took it into his mouth and sucked hard, grabbing her other breast with his other hand and massaging it gently. Hinata dug her fingernails into him, arching her back as the pleasure burst through her veins; another moan escaped her lips, this time a little bit louder.

"Shh!" Naruto hushed, removing himself from her breasts and moving kisses down her body, past her belly bottom, stopping at the hem of her skirt. Hinata flushed a deep red and brought her hands up to her mouth, her eyes fluttering widely like someone who had just woken up.

Naruto quickly pulled off her skirt and panties in one swipe before taking off his own pants and boxers as well. Hinata groaned when she saw him fully naked, she was so ready for this, it had been a few weeks since they had last done anything because of how busy he was.

"Naruto-kun," she breathed quietly, letting him know that she was ready for him to take her. He looked up at her. "I love you."

He smiled but shook his head. "I'm not done yet." She raised an eyebrow, but before anything else could be said he lowered himself between her legs and ran the tip of his tongue over her undying heat. Hinata couldn't help herself, a loud yelp made its way up her throat, cascading through their room. She propped herself on her elbows, her head snapping back in pure ecstasy as he continued to work his tongue and lips around her core.

"Na…." Another moan. "Ah!" Her eyes snapped shut and she bit her teeth into her bottom lip, trying to save herself from another load scream that might wake up the children who were sleeping only a few rooms away.

Naruto was highly enjoying this. Hinata looked sexy as hell, and she tasted wonderful. He could tell he was doing a good job because she was soaking wet, getting her body ready for him to join them together as one.

"Naruto….please…." her voice was faint, weak, vulnerable, and only he could make it sound like that. Naruto smiled once again and moved back up her body. Once Hinata knew that he was no longer between her legs, her arms seemed to give out on her and she was once again flat on her back, her lust filled eyes once again opened and focused on her lover. "Please."

Naruto kissed her deeply before positioning himself at her entrance. His hard length was throbbing with want, and the minute he began to push into her slick, heat his teeth clenched and a groan rippled up his throat. Hinata moaned as well.

Once he was all the way in he began to move, slowly at first, until her hips were able to meet a solid tempo with his own. Once they were both in sync with each other, his thrusts began to pick up, faster and deeper each time. Sweat began to bead on his forehead and he felt his self control completely melt away from him as he pounded into the girl below him at a speed that would seem almost animal. Perhaps it was because of the Kyuubi chakra, he had often wondered. Hinata's grip on his shoulders tightened as her moans and groans began to come more frequently and higher pitch. She dragged her finger nails across his back, surely leaving marks in their wake. She was close, and he could feel it. It wasn't until she wrapped her legs around his waist, tightened her thighs around him and bucked her hips that he knew was about to reach her peak.

"NARUTO-KUN!" she screamed, luckily covering her mouth with her hand just in time for the sound to be muffled slightly. Her body shook for a few moments, then fell completely limp as she road over the waves of her orgasm. That alone was enough to push the Hokage over the edge and with one final thrust he emptied his seed deep within her before falling beside her onto his back. Both of them lay there, a sticky, sweaty, panting mess. They stayed quiet for a few moments trying to catch their breaths. They were both clearly exhausted.

After about two full minutes Hinata finally took a deep breath and rolled over so that she could rest her head on his chest, rubbing her hand over his solid abdominals. She could feel the rise and fall of his body with each breath he took, and she could tell that his heart was still racing.

"I love you…" he managed to get out, still trying to catch his breath. He wrapped his arm around her. Hinata smiled and snuggled into him

"I love you too."

"That was good."

"Mm hmm."

A few more minutes of silence went by. This was the perfect moment. The aftermath of sex was always Hinata's favorite part, there was just something relaxing and special about laying there in her husband's arms that made her feel like the happiest woman on the planet.

But the more she lay there, the more something dawned on her. Something she had meant to tell him, but had completely slipped her mind; something that hopefully he would be completely ecstatic about. How _could she have forgotten?_

"Naruto-kun," she said, looking up at him, her silver eyes filled with happiness. Finally seeming to have regained his breath, Naruto was laying there, his eyes closed. Hinata hoped he hadn't fallen asleep, which sometimes happened to him after intercourse.

"Mm?" he mumbled after a moment_. Good, he wasn't asleep._

"Well, don't get too excited, because I don't know for sure but…" Hinata watched as Naruto's eyes opened and he looked down at her, slightly confused. "I think I might be pregnant."

It took a minute but Naruto finally smiled at her. "Hinata," he said, shaking his head ever so slightly. "I don't think it works that fast."

This made Hinata giggle. Leave it to him to be so clueless. He raised an eyebrow.

"No, no! Before this. My period's late."

Realization dawned on the blonde and he sat up slightly, forcing Hinata to sit up as well. They looked at each other for a long minute, with each passing second Naruto's lips pulled into an even bigger smile. Hinata felt relieved.

"Really?" his voice sounded as though he was a child who had just been told he was getting a puppy. "Like, really, honestly?"

Hinata nodded her head, smiling herself. "Yes. I have an appointment with Sakura tomorrow to find out for sure."

Naruto pulled Hinata into a tight hug, squeezing her slightly so much so that she couldn't breathe for a moment.

"That's great," he chimed. "That is really great, Hinata! I'm so happy!"

"Don't be too happy yet! I need to find out if I am first."

"I know, I know! But still…wow, another baby."

Naruto looked off out of the window of their room, his expression full of hope and wonder, a smile still plastered to his face.

"This is amazing news."

"Let's go to sleep." Hinata murmured, laying down and nuzzling herself into him, he followed her actions and lay down as well.

"Good idea, if we sleep it will be tomorrow sooner, and if its tomorrow we can find out for sure if we're having another baby." Maybe telling him right then wasn't a good idea. She was almost positive he was far too excited to fall asleep now.

"Good night Naruto-kun."

"Goodnight Hinata."

The room fell into silence, and for once that night everything was peaceful. Hinata was almost asleep when she felt a light squeeze on her side.

"Hinata, can we name the baby Ramen this time?"

A tired giggle left her lips. "No we can't."

"Okay."

And with that, she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is a little bit long, sorry guys :P but I promise, or at least I hope it is completely worth the read! I also apologize I didn't have much time to proof read this chapter because it was so long and I have an exam tomorrow that I need to study for, but I just had to upload it! I will proof read it soon though :D Review please :D Enjoy****

* * *

><p>By the time Bolt had awoke the next morning and dragged himself down stairs for breakfast, Naruto had already left for work and Hinata and Himawari were once again sitting at the kitchen table, eating hot porridge. Bolt's top lip curled in disgust as he sat down at his seat beside his sister, staring down at his breakfast. He hated porridge, but his stomach begged him to eat it with a loud gurgle.<p>

"Good morning, big brother!" Himawari's voice was far too cheerful for this early in the morning, and for some reason got on Bolt's nerves. He grunted a response, scooping up a spoonful of mush. His eyebrows furrowed as he tipped his spoon and watched as the soupy mess fell back into the bowl. He changed his mind; maybe he wasn't hungry after all.

"Did you sleep well, Bolt-kun?" Hinata asked, watching as her son played with his food.

"I guess so."

"Mommy! Guess what?" Himawari squealed. Bolt looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

"What?" Hinata said with a small, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning closer to her daughter who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Saranee-chan told me that when I become a ninja like her and big brother, I can learn medical ninjutsu, just like she is! Can I mommy, please?"

Hinata's smile softened at her daughter's interest in the subject. "Well Hima-chan, you'll need to work very hard if you want to become a medical ninja. It is a tough job."

"Oh but I will work super, really hard mommy! I promise! Please?"

"I don't see why not."

"Yay!" Himawari once again began to bounce in her chair. "I can't wait to be a ninja!"

No longer interested in what his mother or his sister had to say Bolt pushed away from the table and picked up his bowl, taking it over to the sink. Hinata looked at him worriedly.

"You didn't eat anything, Bolt-kun…are you feeling alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Just not hungry I guess…"

After pouring the remnants of his porridge into the sink, Bolt reached into the pocket of his sweater and pulled out his headband, tying it over his forehead before walking towards the hallway. He wanted to go for a walk or find Shikadai and Inojin or something, anything besides staying in his house sounded good to him. But before he could even reach the hallway from the kitchen, Hinata's voice stopped him.

"Bolt-kun, you're not going out anywhere are you?"

Bolt forced his scowl away to face her. What did she want now?

"Yeah, why? I don't have any chores do I?"

Hinata stood from the table, collecting her and Himawari's bowls and taking them to the sink. Himawari slid down from her chair and scurried over to Bolt, clinging onto him in her daily hug.

"Actually I have an appointment with Sakura this morning, then I was planning on running some errands for a bit while I was out, so I was hoping you could watch Hima-chan until I get back. I won't be too late, maybe until mid afternoon."

Bolt's heart dropped. He didn't like the sound of that at all; he wanted the day to spend with friends, or by himself, not to babysit his little sister. He was a ninja now, not a nanny, this wasn't his job. He looked down at his sister, whose blue eyes were gleaming up at him with childish glee. She giggled and hugged him tighter.

"But mom, can't grandfather-" he started, but Hinata walked over to them and lightly ruffled his hair.

"Thank you, Bolt-kun."

He frowned as she smiled brightly at him and then walked back to the sink to start the dishes. Bolt sighed and Himawari gleefully bounced around him laughing loudly in his ears. He was stuck with her now, his day was ruined.

After Hinata left, the two siblings spent the next little bit playing with toys in the living room. Well, Himawari did the playing while Bolt slumped himself on the sofa and watched her in pure agony, once in a while voicing a stuffed frog that she had made him pretend to be. Once he was completely bored of that, which was only after about a half an hour, he convinced her to go on a walk with him, but that ended up being just as brutal. She was too slow to keep up with his pace, got distracted by everything so he had to keep a close watch on her, and she said hi to just about everyone who passed.

"Himawari, can't you just walk like a normal person!" he growled after she had stopped for about the fifth time to pick a flower from the side of the road, grabbing her hand roughly and yanking her to walk beside him. "Geez, you act like such a baby sometimes!"

Himawari's eyes immediately began to water and she sniffled back a cry. Bolt rolled his eyes and stopped walking.

"This is exactly what I mean…"

Just then Bolt heard someone call his name and he looked up to see Shikadai and Inojin walking his way. Inojin was waving wildly with one hand and held a scrapbook in the other. Shikadai had both hands shoved into his pockets and looked as though he was about to fall asleep. Feeling relieved that someone other than a little girl was now in his presence, Bolt smiled and for once that day felt a little happy.

"Hey guys!" he called as they reached them. Immediately Shikadai gave an annoyed look at the sobbing child Bolt was holding hands with. Inojin however took a little bit of sympathy and knelt down beside her, asking her if she was okay.

"Babysitting?" Shikadai questioned as Bolt took his hand away from the girl. She was finally calming down a bit thanks to Inojin showing her some of the pictures in his book.

"Unfortunately…"

"That's a drag…we were going to practice some ninjutsu in the training field."

"What? No way!" Bolt couldn't believe it. He was dying to try out some of his new moves he had been working on and this would have been the perfect time, but of course his mother would stick him on watch duty. He looked down at Himawari, maybe he could bring her with them, she wouldn't be too much trouble, would she? Knowing her she would probably want to try out some jutsu by herself and hurt herself, or try to get Bolt to make a flower crown with her or something annoying and babyish like that. He felt torn.

"Hey boys,"

Saved by the bell. The three boys and Himawari all looked around to see Sarada Uchiha and Chouchou Akimichi, Inojin and Shikadai's teammate, standing a few feet away. Bolt never really liked Chouchou, she was loud, rude, self centered, and much like Sarada, a boy hater. But then again he never said he liked Sarada all that much either. But here they were, and girls were a lot better at looking after kids anyway, right?

"Oh good!" Bolt chimed, walking over to them. They both looked at each other, confused, as did Shikadai and Inojin who knew that Bolt was never glad to see the two girls. "You girls are just who I wanted to see, here!"

He once again grabbed Himawari's hand and pulled her towards Sarada, tripping Himawari slightly in the process; Sarada luckily caught her, angrily mumbling Bolt's name in a scolding manor.

"Hima-chan, you're going to go with Sarada for a while, okay!"

"What?" Sarada looked taken a back for a minute as she helped the young girl back to her feet. "Um, excuse me Bolt? When did I agree to watch your sister?"

"Yeah, big brother…mommy said you were supposed to watch me today…" Himawari agreed, looking up at her brother with hurt eyes. Bolt merely shook his head.

"Sorry Himawari, I have to go practice ninjutsu with Shikadai and Inojin. I can't watch you."

"And I can? How do you know Chouchou and I weren't doing anything today?"

"Uh…easy. You guys are losers, you never do anything." Bolt snickered, causing Shikadai and Inojin to silently laugh as well. Sarada and Chouchou both looked unimpressed and slightly irked.

"Bolt Uzumaki, you dumb idiot!" Sarada sneered, barring her teeth and clenching her fists. Immediately Bolt sensed danger, knowing the Uchiha's abnormal inhuman strength and decided to get away quickly. He jumped back and grabbed his two friend's shoulders, pulling them to follow.

"Thank Sarada! Bye Himawari! See you later!"

The three boys took off down the road, leaving the three girls standing behind them in the middle of the road, Sarada still ready to strike.

"I swear…he's so….SHANNARO!" Instead of punching, Sarada stomped her foot into the ground, causing a small tremor around them and the ground to indent around her foot. Chouchou pat her on the back.

"It'is okay girl…forget about him. We got somethin' else to worry 'bout."

Chouchou nodded towards the small dark haired girl beside them who was once again sniffling back her tears. Sarada sighed and bent down to her.

"Himawari?" she asked, causing the young Uzumaki to look at her, tears streaming silently down her round cheeks.

"M-my…brother d-doesn't want to be w-with me." she sobbed. "He d-doesn't like m-me…"

Sarada quickly shook her head. "No, it's not like that at all Himawari! Bolt loves you; I know that for a fact! He's just being a little stupid right now, but all boys are a little stupid sometimes."

Himawari gleamed at Sarada's soft, kind smile. It reminded her of her mother and made her feel a little bit warmer inside.

"Besides," Chouchou added as Sarada stood up again. "Me and Sara were gonna have an awesome girls day! You wanna join Himawari?"

This sparked Himawari's interest and she wiped away her tears on the sleeve of her yellow button up shirt, nodding her head excitedly. Sarada and Chouchou both looked at each other and smiled. They didn't really mind bringing the younger girl along with them, Sarada did love Himawari just as though she was her own sister, they had of course grown up together like family. She wasn't like Bolt, rude and incompetent. She actually had a heart.

* * *

><p>"Well, according to these results…you are pregnant."<p>

After doing a few different tests, Hinata had been sitting in Sakura's office for about twenty minutes waiting for her to return with the results, each minute ticking by in agonizing torture. She had been dying to find out if she was pregnant or not, and each time a minute ticked passed, she found herself trying to hold her patients by looking out the window or reading the title of a book on Sakura's bookshelf, or looking at the beautiful family photo of Sakura, Sasuke and Sarada that sat on her desk. Finally when the pinkette had arrived she almost found herself jumping out of her seat to hear the results, and now, her heart was racing. She was pregnant! Naruto would be thrilled.

"I am?" she questioned trying to hold back the giddiness in her voice. Sakura smiled and nodded, handing her friend the results of the test so she could see for herself. Hinata snatched it from her hands and read carefully over it, smiling brightly when she saw the word _"Positive"._ "I am!"

"You're about three weeks alone. Congratulations, Hinata!" Sakura said, walking to the other side of her desk and sitting down in her chair. She was proud of the girl. Having another baby was exciting, she could only imagine the look on Naruto's face when he would find out; the big goof loved kids, and was amazing with them. They were great parents, and lucky at that. Her green eyes shifted to her own family photo. She loved both her husband and her daughter, they were her whole world, and she could only wish to be as lucky as her best friend and his wife, but unfortunately that reality vanished long ago. After her first childbirth Sakura suffered severe complications, and Tsunade who had been her doctor regrettably informed her that it would be utterly unsafe to have any more children. She was heartbroken of course, as it was Sasuke's wish to have a few children; she had even tried to convince him that it would be okay if they tried again, that she was strong enough to pull through it along with another child. But he refused. He didn't want to lose her, and he was happy with the beautiful daughter that they had, even though she knew his words were polished with disappointment. So there they were, they're small family. Not something you would think would be the saving point of an entire clan.

In the spur of the moment Hinata had been far too excited to notice the Uchiha's sudden glum attitude, but it didn't take her long before noticing that she was staring at the picture with sad eyes and she tilted her head to the side. Scooting her chair closer to the desk, Hinata reached out her hand and rested it ontop of Sakura's who were folded on the desk in front of her.

"Thank you, Sakura." she cooed in a quiet voice. Sakura looked up and smiled at her, trying to force herself to forget about her negative thoughts. She should be happy for her friend, she was happy for her.

"I wonder if it will be a boy or a girl this time!" Sakura said loudly, deciding to completely brush the thoughts out of her mind. Hinata tapped her index finger on her cheek, pondering the thought.

"I think it will be….another boy!"

"You just want another boy for Bolt!" Sakura giggled. "Oh! You have to congratulate him for me! I didn't get to go to the ceremony yesterday because of work."

"That's the same with Naruto."

"Hmm…everyone is so busy these days. It's definitely not like it used to be."

"Not at all. When does Sasuke-kun come get back this time?"

Sakura looked at a small calendar that sat beside her family picture and trailed her finger along the dates until she stopped on the seventeenth of May.

"Not for another two weeks." she said with a sigh.

"I don't know how you do it…" Hinata shook her head, causing Sakura to chuckle.

"Neither do I."

* * *

><p>After saying goodbye to Sakura, Hinata almost felt the need to rush right to Naruto's office to tell him the news, but she figured he might have been busy with work, and it would probably be better to wait until later anyway. She went to the grocery store and bought some things for supper, ingredients for her own homemade ramen. She had only made it once before, and Naruto had loved it, so since she was in the mood for celebrating she felt as though it was completely necessary to make it again. It took her a while to find all of the ingredients, she had forgotten the recipe for the broth and had to swing back home to find it before returning back into town to buy everything she needed. What usually only took one hour, turned into a two hour grocery shopping adventure, but she didn't mind at all. Nothing could bring her mood down.<p>

Once she had all of the groceries for the soup, she decided to prolong her trip by getting some some flowers for her husband, and some herbal bath salts from the Nara medical store. Perhaps she and Naruto could enjoy a nice, relaxing herbal bath together once he had come home. She blushed at the thought, that would be nice.

Taking full advantage of having no children to watch, Hinata took her time and did anything else she could think of doing by herself that she didn't get to do that much anymore, such as visit her former teammates, Shino and Kiba. By the time she was ready to return home, it was already three o'clock. She was just walking past Ichiraku Ramen, on her way back to the Hyuuga compound when a familiar little voice rung out.

"Mommy!"

She turned just in time, groceries still in hand to see her daughter, Himawari dashing over to her. She jumped up and embraced her in a tight hug, almost knocking the dozens of bags out of her hands. Hinata stumbled backwards a step but caught herself. She looked down at Himawari, slightly shocked to see her there, then she looked up at the two people who were accompanying her and was even more surprised.

"Hima-chan! Chouchou, Sarada-chan!" she gasped. Sarada reached up and adjusted her glasses from falling off of her nose.

"Hi aunty Hinata." she said politely.

"Sup, Mrs. U!" Chouchou said with a wave. Hinata looked around, trying to see if her son was anywhere to be seen with the three girls. He wasn't, and she began to feel her happy mood slip.

"Where's Bolt-kun?"

Himawari let go of Hinata and crossed her arms. "Hmp! Big brother said he wanted to train with Shika-kun and Inojin-kun…so he left." she pouted. Hinata's eyes widened.

"He left you?" she repeated, hoping that one of the older kids would respond so she could be sure the young girl was getting her story right.

"Mm hm, he did." Himawari's face brightened and she looked at the other two. "But then Cho-chan and Saranee-chan took me and we had a girl's day! It was so much fun! Look what I picked for you, mommy!" She held out a small singular flower. Hinata forced a smile and struggled to take it in her already preoccupied hand.

"It's beautiful Hima-chan…thank you." She looked at Chouchou and Sarada, motioning the thank you to them as well. Sarada held up a hand.

"It was really no problem Aunty, we had a lot of fun together. Bolt's just an idiot, and obviously doesn't know what he's missing."

Hinata sighed. "I'll have to have a talk with him when he gets home." She looked at Himawari who was smiling up at her. She smiled back. "We should be getting home, Hima-chan, so we can make supper. Mommy's making ramen."

Himawari jumped into the air, throwing her hands up. "Yay! I love ramen, and I'm so hungry!"

"Would you two girls' like to come over, as a thank you from me?"

Chouchou's mouth began to water. "If there's food involved, count me in!" she exclaimed, fist pumping into the air. Sarada walked over to Hinata and took a few of the bags from her hands. Hinata smiled down at her warmly as a thank you.

"Of course, mama was staying late at the hospital tonight anyway, and I am pretty hungry."

With that, the four girls started off down the road, Hinata no longer in the mood she had been earlier.

* * *

><p>Bolt, Shikadai and Inojin had spent most of the morning training on and off with their new jutsus. Bolt had finally got shadow clone down, so he thought, Shikadai was already perfect at Shadow possession, which he practiced on small animals and birds that would come close and Inojin would also use them for his mind control. Whenever the boys would take breaks of course they would take quick peeks at the men's magazines Inojin had been genius enough to snag from his dad's "secret stash". All in all the day was now going by perfectly for Bolt.<p>

After taking a break around mid afternoon, they were once again back at it.

"Alright Shikadai, check this out!" Bolt said, bringing his fingers together in their typical shadow clone stance. "Kage bunshin no justsu!" he yelled, and an exact clone of him appeared beside him. Bolt and the clone looked at each other and gave each other thumbs up before Bolt turned back to his friend, his shadow clone disappearing. "See!"

Shikadai smiled and nodded. "Pretty good, I must admit."

Bolt looked over at Inojin who was sitting on the ground, his back pressed up against a tree. He had his sketch book out and was drawing away. Bolt narrowed his eyes.

"Inojin…would you put that stupid coloring book away and come practice jutsu with us!" he demanded. Inojin looked up at him.

"This isn't a coloring book Bolt, it's a sketchbook. And I am practicing my jutsu, watch."

With one swipe of his pen a large dragon flew out of the book, whizzed around the three genin and shot into the air, exploding into a firework of ink into the sky above them. Bolt and Shikadai's jaws dropped as Inojin smiled proudly.

"Told ya."

"INOJIN YAMANAKA!"

As soon as the shrill voice shot through the air, Inojin jumped to his feet looking around terrified. From the trees, Ino Yamanaka, his mother was storming towards them, arms crossed over her chest, her long blonde ponytail dancing behind her with the sway of her hips. Right away her son stuffed the magazines into his book bag along with his pens and slung it over his back.

"M-mom!"

Ino marched up to him, blue eyes fierce. "I thought I told you I needed you at the flower shop at three o'clock!" she spat, her arm shooting down towards him before she pinched his ear between her thumb and index finger. "You knew you're father and I were going out!

"Ow! Ow! I'm sorry I forgot!" Inojin cried as she yanked him along with her. "S-sorry guys! I have to go!"

Bolt and Shikadai watched as the two mind controllers disappeared into the woods, listening as Ino's rants and complaints continued even long after they had vanished.

"And I thought my mom was crazy…" Shikadai mumbled causing Bolt to nod. A minute of silence went by with only the raging mother's voice in the distance. When it finally could not be heard anymore, Bolt sighed.

"Well, do you still want to train some more?" he asked. Shikadai shrugged his shoulders.

"Nah, we've been practicing for long enough. I'm getting tired…"

"Yeah, I guess me too." Although it was a lie, Bolt wasn't tired at all, he still wanted to train. But he didn't want to do it alone so he and Shikadai collected their things and started home together.

Once they reached the fork in the road where Shikadai had to go one way to the Nara compound, and Bolt had to go the other to the Hyuuga, they said their goodbyes. Bolt kicked a stone on the ground and he hastened, it had just dawned on him that he hadn't eaten all day and he was amazingly hungry. The stone bounced a few feet in front of him.

The Hyuuga compound soon came into view and Bolt was met by a few of the older Hyuuga members who were walking together by the gate. The greeted him when he passed through, referring to him as "Bolt-sama" which he absolutely hated. But he respectfully greeted them back, never stopping once though; he was too hungry for that.

When he reached his front door he pulled it open quickly and jumped inside, kicking off his shoes. "Mom, I'm home!" he yelled, he could hear someone working in the kitchen and assumed it would be her. It wasn't like it would be his dad…

His stomach made a loud growl as he walked down the hallway; he quickly put his hand on it as if to cover the sound. "Man, I'm hungry."

As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he was met with a sickening sight. Himawari, as well as Sarada and Chouchou were all sitting at the table, giggling and talking as girls often do. They all turned to look at him, obviously sensing his presence. Bolt narrowed his eyes.

"What are all these girls doing here?" he demanded angrily, forgetting that the two ladies had just done him a favor. Chouchou snickered smugly while Sarada taunted his by pulling down her lower eye lid and sticking her tongue out at him. Bolt clenched his teeth.

"Bolt!"

He turned. It was his mother, but he could tell by the way she was standing there with her arms crossed, and the way she had said his name that she was mad about something. He racked his brains, trying to remember what and if he had done anything wrong. Then it hit him. Himawari.

_Uh oh…_

Hinata stepped closer to him, arms still pressed tightly to her chest, eyebrows furrowed. It wasn't very often that she got mad, but when she did she was beyond terrifying. "Was there a reason you left your sister all by herself in the middle of town this afternoon."

Bolt looked around. Sarada and Chouchou were in the room, why was she getting mad at him in front of them. It was so uncool. But he decided to stay calm, he did nothing really wrong, the two girls were there to watch her, she hadn't left her by herself. His mother was misunderstanding.

"I didn't," he responded snidely. "Sarada and Chouchou-"

"I asked _you_ to watch her! And you couldn't even do that." Hinata interrupted him with a snap. His defences fell and he no longer felt calm, but instead slightly annoyed. She had ignored him. Why do parents insist on asking questions when they're just going to ignore your answer anyway? "You can't just leave her alone, Bolt! You're her big brother, she's your responsibility!"

Bolt felt his blood began to boil when he heard faint whispers coming from Sarada and Chouchou. What were they saying, he needed to know. They were probably talking about him; hell, they would probably tell every kid in Konoha about this knowing their big gossiping mouths. He decided to instead play it cool and snap back. Sticking his nose into the air and snorting out a chuckle he looked at his mother through rebellious eyes.

"No, she's your responsibility!" he shot. "She's not my kid, maybe if you-"

Hinata snapped. Her face scrunched up with anger at his smartass comeback and her arms fell to her sides, she clenched her fists tightly.

"When I ask you to watch her she is your responsibility!" she yelled, causing the whispers from the other girls to stop. Bolt's confident demeanor stooped and he felt slightly taken aback, and embarrassed, and slightly scared. "Never will this ever happen again, thank goodness Chouchou and Sarada were there to watch her or who knows what could have happened. Would you want something to happen to her, Bolt? Is that it?" Hinata was frantic and although she had asked the question, it was easy to tell she was not expecting the answer she was about to receive. Without think, Bolt narrowed his eyes and began to yell back, annoyance and the urge to defend himself engulfing him.

"Maybe I would! I am so sick of this family!" he yelled back into his mothers face, causing her expression to change from angry to, but he ignored it. "I'm sick of dad, I'm sick of Himawari, and I'm sick of you! I wish you would all just leave me alone!"

The room went quiet. Bolt and Hinata stared into each other's eyes for a minute, he could tell that she was hurt by his words but he didn't care. They had all been completely true. Before he could even hear Himawari start to cry Bolt turned around and launched himself upstairs to his room, slamming his door hard behind him and flinging himself onto his bed. _It was a curse to be born into this damn family._ He could feel tears welling in his eyes. And now Sarada and Chouchou probably thought he was a complete baby, being lectured by his mother like that. Well screw them.

Bolt fell asleep thinking about how much better his life would be if he was on his own, maybe he could become a great traveler like his great-grandfather Jiraiya; that could be nice. By the time he woke up, light had escaped his room and he was now sitting in the dark. He could still hear people downstairs though, so he assumed it wasn't too late, just dark. His dream had been amazing. He was traveling the world alone, without anyone to disappoint him or get mad at him or hang off him. Just himself, and it was perfect.

Getting off of his bed, he turned on his light and looked around his room until he found a large book bag. He grabbed it and ripped open the zipper, he then proceeded to search around his room, grabbing things such as some shirts, pants, underwear. He grabbed two cups of instant ramen that sat on the floor beside his bed, and his tooth brush that was lying on his bedside table before slinging the backpack over his shoulders. He had made up his mind. This family life just wasn't for him; he was going to try things a little differently. Besides, he was a ninja now, he could protect himself. And he assumed nobody would miss him anyway, maybe Himawari…and of course Shikadai and Inojin, but they'd get over it. His dad never really cared about him and his mom probably hated him right now. Oh well.

About to slide open his window to escape into the night, Bolt took one last look around his room. Lying on his bed was his Leaf Shinobi headband that must have fallen off while he was sleeping. Quickly he rushed over to his bed and grabbed it, stuffing it into his pocket, then returning to the window. As quietly as he could he opened the window.

_There's no going back now._

* * *

><p>Downstairs Sarada and Chouchou had just finished helping Hinata clean everything up and were at the door saying their goodbyes. Himawari was already in bed, so they didn't need to worry about her not letting them leave without a fight, which was what probably would have happened if they had left while she was awake.<p>

"Thank you so much for dinner, Aunty. It was delicious." Sarada said with a small bow to Hinata as Chouchou opened the door. She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, thanks Mrs U."

"No problem girls. Thank you so much for helping me clean up."

The two friends stepped outside, closing the door behind them and started to walk away from the house, talking about how good of a cook Hinata was with each other. Once they reached the Hyuuga gate, they said their goodbyes as Chouchou went one way and Sarada went the other.

She hadn't taken two steps however when Sarada saw someone dart out of the bushes a few feet ahead of her and take off down the street. She squinted her eyes trying to get a better look.

"Bolt?" she whispered to herself, quickening her pace. What was he doing? It wasn't long before she too broke out into a run, trailing the figure in front of her, trying to get a better look at him. She couldn't tell for sure but she had a hunch that it was her clueless teammate. But where was he going?

Twisting and turning through the streets of Konoha, the boy continued to run until he finally reached the gates of the village. Sarada made sure to keep out of sight while she followed him, hiding herself behind a post when he finally stopped. The street light shone down on him, it was Bolt alright, just as she thought. But what was he doing at the gate of the village?

It wasn't until he began to walk through the gate that she finally understood. Sarada gasped and jumped out from her hiding spot.

"Bolt!" she yelled, stopping him in his tracks. He spun around. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Go away, Salad!" he hissed, calming a bit when he realized it was only her. "This is none of your business."

Sarada walked over to him, throwing her hands on her hips. "Stop calling me that! And it is my business! Are you leaving the village?"

"So what if I am? It's not like anyone will miss me here."

"That is so immature and just plain stupid, Bolt! What about your family?"

Bolt scowled and turned back around. "What family?"

With that he sped off, away from Sarada, away from the village, away from everything he once knew. Sarada frowned. She needed to tell someone, but by the time she got to anyone he would be long gone.

"Well…good riddance!" she yelled after him, but immediately started to bite her bottom lip. Knowing him he wouldn't last the night, he would probably get himself killed. But it wasn't her problem. All she had to do was tell an adult. His father was the Hokage for crying out loud, it would be easy enough to find one small runaway ninja. Right?

Sighing loudly and rolling her eyes Sarada lost all hope for the boy. Her heart beat fast as she took a step and pushed off, running into the darkness after him. What was she doing? Why was she doing it? She had no answers. All she knew was that she was going to kill Bolt once they got back to the village.

"Bolt! Wait up!" she yelled, luckily she could still see him in the distance, and she was much faster than he was so she would be able to catch up in no time. She just hoped that she would be able to make him change his mind and come back.

* * *

><p>Back at Bolt's house, Hinata had been pacing the hallway in front of Bolt's door ever since Sarada and Chouchou had left. She knew her son was asleep or pretending to be asleep but she needed to say something to him, she felt terrible for yelling at him earlier. She never yelled, and she knew that he had been upset for the past few days. She had been too harsh with him, Himawari was alright, he hadn't really left her alone. Hinata sighed and finally gained the courage to stop in front of his door. Lightly she knocked.<p>

"Bolt-kun…" No answer, but that was to be expected. She sighed again. "Bolt-kun…I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier, I really am. I overreacted, and I am sorry. I know you've been upset lately about your father, and I understand…everything had been so different since he became the Hokage hasn't it? But that's okay. Just because he hasn't been around that much doesn't mean he loves you any less. That's not true at all, he loves you more than anything Bolt-kun, and so do I. And so does Himawari, you mean the world to her. She even told me that she forgives you for today, so see. We are both sorry. I hope you can forgive us."

Hinata finished with a smile and waited for a response. She half expected him to open the door, fly into her arms and apologize as well. But it didn't come. After a moment of waiting Hinata wondered if he really had been asleep and all her words had been wasted.

"Bolt-kun?" she called, opening the door. The room was dark, but the light from the hallway illuminated in onto the bed. No one was there. Confused Hinata switched on the light. No one. Panic set in as Hinata rushed around the room calling for her son. She checked the closet, she checked under the bed. Nothing. It wasn't until she noticed a breeze in the room that she looked at the window and saw that it was wide open. Her heart sank.

* * *

><p>"So…are we all done?" Naruto asked, stretching his arms behind his head as he sat at his desk. Shikamaru who was carrying a stack of books over to a large bookshelf on the far right hand side of the room looked at him.<p>

"You really can't wait, can you?" he asked with a smile, beginning to place the books in their stops on the shelf. Naruto laughed and shook his head.

"Not at all! Wouldn't you be excited if Temari told you she was pregnant again?"

Shikamaru blinked as the thought crossed his mind. "Nah, ones enough." He muttered causing Naruto's jaw to drop.

"Seriously? How could you-"

Before he could finish, something in his pocket began to vibrate loudly. He dug his hand in and pulled out his cell phone, looking at the name on caller ID.

"Who is it?" Shikamaru asked, finishing up with the books. Naruto help the phone up to him with a smile. Hinata Uzumaki. "Couldn't wait any longer, huh?"

Naruto chuckled. "Guess not, fingers crossed!" He swiped the talk button and held the phone up to his ear. "Hey sweetie! How-"

Shikamaru couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but the voice on the other side of the phone sounded frantic. He watched as Naruto's expression fell into seriousness.

_What now?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Exam went good! **

**So happy about that ahaha :) **

**I've also been getting a lot of feedback about Bolt, which I appreciate so much thank you guys! But let me explain. I wanted to make Bolt a character that was completely different than Naruto himself, a character that comes across bratty and not easy to sympathize with. It was easy to sympathize with Naruto because he actually hard hardships and his life was hard but he was still a generally nice person. Bolt thinks he had hardships, but really his life isnt as bad as he makes it out to be. There is where they are very different people. Bolt didn't know how bad his father had it when he was a child so of course he doesn't think he understands at all, but in reality he does. I also wanted him to be a little jerk because when he finally sees that his life was good, it would be more of a transition! I thought it would be more meaningful that way :) **

**I'm sorry if anyone really doesn't like his character and if I portrayed that badly D: But I still hope you enjoy the story :) **

**Reviews help me continue a lot guys, so please keep them coming xD Thank you so much!**

* * *

><p>Bolt pushed his feet as fast as they could possibly go, fearing that the more time he took to get away, the more of a chance there would be for someone in the village to catch up to him, someone other than the person who was already running only a few feet behind him.<p>

"Bolt….would you….stop already!" he could hear Sarada's voice from behind him, straining as she ran against the cool wind that was blowing in their faces. He ignored her. He couldn't stop, wouldn't stop, not now. He had made up his mind after all that this was what he wanted. Try all she might, the Uchiha wasn't going to get him to come back to Konoha, if she wanted to waste her time and follow him then so be it, but it was a pointless chase.

"Bolt!"

Sarada had had enough; she was close enough now to the blonde that if she wanted to grab him she could, but what she had in mind would be so much more satisfying. In mid sprint she jumped to the ground, landing on her hands and twirling her body so quick, if you had blinked you would have missed it. Her right leg connected with Bolt's left leg that was extended back and when he went to take another step their ankles intertwined and he fell flat on his face. Sarada sprung herself back to her feet, patting down her skirt to make sure it wasn't out of place and adjusting her glasses.

"Hn," she snorted looking down at him as he groaned and got to his knees, wiping dirt from his face.

"What the hell…"he mumbled, casting an angered look back at her.

"Well I told you to stop, didn't I? You're lucky I didn't decide to knock you out instead."

Bolt scowled at her and slowly and shakily stood up, brushing himself off. Sarada threw her hands on her hips and watched him some more.

"Where are you planning on going? Do you even know?" she questioned. They began to walk, Bolt surprisingly staying in pace with her. He was quiet for a minute.

"I don't know."

"That's great. Well thought out plan there…"

Sarada huffed and her arms dropped to swing at her sides. Why couldn't she just turn around and go home? She didn't like this boy nearly enough to put up with this ridiculousness so late at night. Turning her head over her shoulder she looked back. Konoha wasn't even in sight anymore, how long had they been running? She looked back ahead of her. Only darkness. She supposed it wasn't so bad though, it was quiet, and very peaceful. She was positive that Bolt would get sick of this ridiculous antic by morning and the two would head home again. She would tell her mama that she had only followed him to make sure he didn't get hurt, he was a numskull, she would understand that.

Bolt hadn't said anything about her walking beside him so she supposed he really didn't mind her being there all that much. Good, because she wasn't going to leave even if he asked her to. Dumb boy.

The kids kept silent for what seemed like hours as they continued to push forward on the path. Eventually Sarada began to feel her eyes grow heavy and she wondered what time it was, or how long they had even been on the road.

"I'm getting tired…"she murmured, more to herself then anybody really, but of course Bolt responded.

"Then go home. No one asked you to come with me."

Her onyx eyes narrowed. She felt like telling him off right then and there but that would require effort that she didn't have, so she didn't say anything.

Without warning, Bolt took a sharp turn off the road and disappeared into the woods that bordered them. Sarada stood there for a moment utterly confused before hurrying to follow him.

"Where are you going now?" she yelled after him. He was barely visible under the dark shadows of the trees, but his light blonde hair could still slightly be seen.

"I need to get off the road. They'll be sending shinobi after us soon; they'll expect us to be on the road."

She had to hand it to him; he was at least smart when it came to that. Maybe he would be criminal when he got older, destined to escape and evade prison for the rest of his life. She snickered at the thought, but then reality swam back into her mind.

"You can't keep running forever you know. You're eventually going to get caught no matter where you go, your dad will have people looking for you all over the world, and you know it."

"My dad's too busy with his work to think about stuff like that. He has more important stuff to deal with…"

"Give me a break, Bolt. He's your dad. I really think you need a stone cold reality check and get over yourself."

"And I really think you ought to mind your own damn business and get lo-!"

A sickening snap wrung out from under Bolt's foot as he took a step on a twig, only that was all he stepped on, a twig because for some reason there was no ground. Without thinking his arm shot out and he grabbed onto the closest thing to him, Sarada's arm and they both tumbled down a very steep cliff, bumping off of rocks and tree branches that stuck out from the earth. Landing hard on the ground below, on his face yet again, Bolt's lungs felt as though all of the air had been sucked out at once. He coughed violently for a minute trying to regain his breath, wondering what had just happened.

"Ow…."

His blue eyes drifted open to look behind him. Sarada was sitting on her behind, leaning slightly forward and running her hand over her lower back, her face was scrunched up in pain, glasses no longer sitting on her nose. Ow was right.

Bolt places a hand flat on either side of him and pushed himself up, spitting out a mouthful of dirt. His vision was a bit dazed.

"Y-you okay?" he asked, his voice shaky. Sarada's eyes blinked, and blinked again as she looked around blindly, her long lashes dusted with pine needles and sand. She clearly had noticed her glasses were no longer on her face as she felt around the ground in front of her.

"Do I look okay?" she snapped. "No I am not okay! What kind of stupid question is that?"

"Okay, okay…I was just asking. Sorry for being considerate."

Her nostrils flared at his statement. "Because you are always so considerate aren't you, Bolt? This whole trip has just been you thinking about everyone else, right? Wrong! You are literally the most selfish, arrogant, immature….JERK, I have every met!"

Once again Bolt no longer cared. Sarada continued to rant on about how she was angry with him, and how everything had been his fault, blah blah blah. Sliding one arm out of his back pack, Bolt unzipped the biggest pouch and dug around for a bit until his hand wrapped around something blunt. He pulled out a flashlight, clicking the button on and pointing it at his companion. Sarada stopped talking and threw her arms over her face, shielding herself from the light.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a flashlight? Do you know how useful that could have been all night?"

"Well I didn't want to waste the battery. And if I had used it while we were on the road, someone might have seen us." He responded calmly. Pointing the flashlight at the ground he quickly spotted her glasses, which were a little bent and one of the lenses had a crack in it. But he crawled over to them and picked them up, handing them to her. She snatched them from him and carefully bent the center, bending them back into place, then she put them back on her face. She looked around.

"Where are we anyway?"

Bolt shrugged, pointing the flashlight at the cliff behind them. It had to have been at least a thirty foot drop, he was surprised, and glad, that neither of them broke anything.

"I don't know." He finally said, looking around them. The forest was dark, and quiet, and seemed to go on forever. He didn't know where they were, or if there was even a way back up to forest above them. Sarada sighed and crossed her arms, her face finally changing from annoyed and angry to slightly concerned. Bolt however placed the flash light down and leaned his back against the wall of the cliff. It was quiet, the weather was comfortable, and he was nowhere near his family. This was what he was looking for. He closed his eyes, folding his arms behind his head.

"Ah….this is nice."

Sarada's eyebrows furrowed. What was wrong with this kid? Because there must have been something seriously wrong with him if he thought this was nice.

"You're kidding…" was all she said.

"Nope."

Sarada didn't know what to say so she merely shook her head. She sat there in disbelief for a few minutes, just staring at him before finally getting up, her legs and back hurt a little so it took her longer then she had expected it to. Bolt didn't seem to notice her movement.

"Unbelievable." She was done. If this brat wanted to waste his life away in the woods then all the power to him. She did not sign up for this. "I'm going home." She addressed, walking around his feet that were stretched out lazily in front of him. He didn't respond. Sarada felt bitter about the whole situation, and as she walked into the darkness of the woods once again she cursed herself for even following him that far. But if he was happy then who cared, his dad was only going to make him come home eventually anyway.

Sarada new that there was no way she could get up the cliff, it was far too steep to climb, and her back hurt a little too much to jump it, she would have to find a way around. Struggling to push herself past branches and through shrubs, something a head of her caught her eyes. A small light in the not so far off distance. A fire?

Curious she walked a little more cautiously, perhaps it was someone who could help her, or perhaps it could have been her papa, though that was highly unlikely, he wasn't do home for another few weeks. But she wasn't naive, it also could easily be someone who she wouldn't want to mess with, and for that reason only she would make sure she was not seen or heard.

The closer she got the more she could see that it was indeed a fire, a campfire at that. People were sitting around it, talking amongst each other. Two? Three? No, four men where there. She got as close as she could get without being seen and sunk herself down behind a tree, listening carefully as they spoke and watching their every move. They didn't look like people you would want to get involved with, not at all. The one who the others seemed to be focused on was a large man, extremely muscular build. His dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail that sat on his neck; a large tattoo was visible on his left toned bicep. His attire was a sleeveless black shirt and loose pants, and his arms waved wildly as he talked. Sarada shifted, trying to make the others out as well, but they were not as easy to see. Two of them looked like twins, their shaggy hunter green hair falling over one eye on each of them. The forth man was tall and thin, and covered in bandages.

"I feel like we aren't any close to finding the damn thing," one of the twins complained, his voice sounded young, Sarada was guessing he was probably in his mid to late twenties. He threw a stick into the fire, causing embers to fly everywhere. The other twin hissed as an ember landed on his hand and he shook it fiercely, trying to shake it off. "Perhaps we're looking in the wrong area."

They were trying to find something, but what? Sarada leaned a bit closer.

"Patients, Shiki." the muscular man boomed, his voice deep. "We're looking in the right place, trust me."

"We always trust you," the other twin shot. The dark haired man looked at him. "And so far we've achieved nothing! If we return to Lord Azura without-"

The tall man stood up, teeth barred. Sarada gasped, she hadn't realized how big he actually was until he stood, towering over all the others.

"We will not!" he roared, shutting the second twin up. "The reason I am in charge is because Lord Azura trusted me with this mission! You are a fool if you think I will let it fail, do you understand, Kosui?"

The other twin looked down, clearly no longer in the mood to add his input. The bandaged man stood, causing the other two to look at him. He pointed into the forest behind him.

"I'm going to use the bathroom…" his voice sent shivers up Sarada's spine. He sounded unlike anyone she had ever heard before, almost snake like. He was soft spoken, very quiet, but there was something about him that was off. Even after the brown haired man nodded, and he walked away, his long arms dangled by his sides, he looked very inhuman. It was creepy.

The brown hair man sat back down, sighing loudly. Shiki turned to him once more.

"Gento, what if the scroll isn't here? We've been looking for three days straight."

Scroll? What were they talking about?

"It's here. We'll find it. And when we do, the hidden leaf village will belong to Lord Azura, as if should be."

"What what about the Hokage?"

"Tsk, the current Hokage has ruined the world; things might be prosperous for Konoha itself, but look at what has happened everywhere else. Look at the Land of Rivers and the other small districts around the Land of Fire. While the other greater countries have been allied with and are growing stronger by the minute, the smaller ones like our have been forgotten and continue to deteriorate."

Gento stood once again and began pacing around the fire. "We had been there for the Land of Fire, for the second and third great Shinobi wars, making sure no harm fell upon them. And now look at how they repay us. Our trade has fallen almost seventy percent, they come and go whenever they please without permission, the city that they have built has taken population from us!"

Sarada could tell his temper was rising the more he spoke. As carefully as she could she got to her feet, still watching the man. She would stay a moment longer but then she had to run back and tell Bolt. They were planning on doing something to the village. Something bad…

"What if we find the scroll and it doesn't work, or we don't know how to use it?" Kosui finally spoke again, his tone no longer snide but generally curious. Gento turned to him, a crazed smile plastered to his face.

"Oh, it will work! We'll find a way to work it, and when we do, the land of fire will be ours, and the Orange Hokage will be dead, leaving our Lord as the rightful leader!"

That was it, she had to go. Sarada turned on her heels, prepared to run as fast as she could back to her partner, but the moment she turned around she found herself staring at someone's stomach. Someone's stomach that was wrapped full in bandages. Her heart sank. She didn't have to look up to know who it was but slowly her eyes moved up the body anyway.

Standing in front of her, cold dark eyes staring down, was the fourth man. How did he know she was there? She hadn't made any sound; she had made sure that she didn't. So how? Sarada swallowed hard and took a step backwards.

* * *

><p>Back at the cliff, Bolt opened one eye, looking around to see if there was any sign of his whiny "friend". He had figured she would spend a few minutes walking blindly through the woods before deciding to come back to him. And even if she didn't, even if she did go back to Konoha he didn't care, it wasn't like he asked her to come along anyway. Not seeing any sign of her, he sighed and closed his eye again. Oh well. At least it would be a lot quieter now.<p>

All of a sudden, a bloodcurdling scream filled the air, causing both of Bolt's eyes to snap open and he jumped to his feet. That was Sarada, he knew it. Leaving both the flash light and his book bag behind him he sprinted through the woods in the direction the scream had come from, branches and twigs hitting him in the face and scratching at his legs, but he didn't care.

"Sarada!" he yelled into the darkness. He had lost sight of which way the scream had come from and began to panic. In the back of his mind he knew that it was probably something stupid, like she had walked into a spiders web or something like that. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong.

Finally he saw a light and pushed himself faster towards it. _She must be there._

But what he saw when he got closer, wasn't just the Uchiha heir. There were four, big men looming around her. One, a tall spidery looking guy hand was holding her tightly in front of him. Bolt froze, she looked absolutely terrified, but you could easily tell she was trying to hide it. She quickly spotted him, terror filling her onyx orbs.

"Bolt! Ru-"

Before she could finish, the spidery man's hand slapped across her mouth, and all the men looked up at Bolt.

"Another one?" Kosui said, a smile playing at him lips. Bolt reached into the small pouch that was attached to his right leg, pulling out a kunai and readied himself to fight.

"Let her go!" he yelled, trying his best to intimidate them. The men burst into laughter.

"I got this one." Gento mumbled to the others. They nodded, and in a flash he was behind Bolt. Bolt hadn't even seen him move. He quickly turned his head just in time to see the man's large fist coming towards him, Bolt jumped out of the way.

_They're ninja!_

Sarada knew that she had to help in some way; they needed to get out of this predicament, so she bit as hard as she could into the tall, bandaged man's hand. He hissed out in pain and she quickly punched upwards with all of her strength, hitting him square in the lower jaw. The man flew into the air, hitting a tree branch and plummeted back down to the ground, landing on the two twins. They all crumpled to the forest floor.

Bolt continued to dodge any hit Gento threw at him.

"Stand still you little brat!" he shouted, his hand going right through the trunk of a tree. Bolt gulped and for a minute wondered if this man's strength was greater than Sarada or her mothers.

Speak of the devil, a kunai came flying through the air, slicing Gento's cheek causing him to wince back in pain and Sarada appeared beside Bolt. They looked at each other.

"We have to get out of here." She ordered. He nodded.

"No you don't!"

The twins appeared on either side of the kids, their arms stretching beyond the point that normal human limbs could stretch and they wrapped around them. Bolt tried to bring his hands together to summon a shadow clone but the twins had his arms pinned to his body. Their arms that were wrapped around him felt like goo, heavy, and sticky goo. They tried to struggle against their grasp but it was no good.

"Get your filthy hands off of us!" Bolt growled as the twins walked them back to the fire. Gento and the other man were already standing there, Gento's cheek had a small gash out of it from Sarada's kunai, blood was trickling down his face.

The twins roughly jerked their arms causing the kids to fall to their knees on the ground. Bolt looked up angrily at Gento, eyes narrowed. But the man merely smiled down at him.

"Well, I must admit you kids gave a little more of a fight than I expected." he chuckled before walking over to them. He knelt down in front of Sarada and looked her in the eye, a large hand reaching out and stroking her hair. She winced and turned her head away from him. "Aren't you kids a little far from home?"

Bolt's anger spiked. "Don't touch her!" he barked, trying once again to break himself free. The men all laughed again, and Gento turned his attention to him, still smiling.

"You have a big mouth for such a little brat." He taunted. "That could be a problem."

"The only problem you idiots are going to have is my dad when he finds out about this!"

Another roar of laughter. Gento stood up, his expression amused.

"So scary," Shiki mocked looking at his brother.

"We don't want to upset daddy!" Kosui laughed back. Bolt began to shake. They clearly had no idea who they were messing with. Well, they would find out soon enough because if Naruto found out they had them, it wouldn't be pretty.

The bandaged man was the only one not laughing at this point, but instead he was carefully examining Bolt's features.

"Gento…." he said in his gentle voice. Gento's laugh slowly died and he looked at him. "Look at the boy's face."

Gento did as he was told. It took him a moment, but then his eyes widened and he got down to Bolt's level. Bolt wanted nothing more than to punch him in his big ugly face, from the way he was looking at him. Slowly his hand reached out and he ran two fingers along Bolt's cheek, tracing the define whiskers. He brought his hand away and smiled once again.

"Well, well boys…" he said standing. "It looks as though this isn't any little loud mouthed brat. This," he pointed at Bolt. "Is the Orange Hokage's son!"

The twins began to whisper to themselves. Finally they knew who they were up against. _Good._ Bolt's lips twisted into a smirk.

"That's right! And when we finds out about this, you guys are dead!"

"Now see," Gento began, rubbing his chin as though he was thinking. "I don't believe that. What I believe is we just found ourselves some new leverage."

Bolt raised an eyebrow. _Leverage?_

Gento turned back to the bandaged man. "Change of plan, Kokatsu. We're going back to the Land of Rivers, tonight."

Kokatsu nodded.

"But what about the scroll?" Kosui questioned.

"Forget the scroll! The Hokage's son is worth much more. He is all we need."

Shiki's grip tightened on Sarada, causing a small whimper to escape her lips. "What about this one?"

Gento looked down at her for a moment and shrugged. "Keep her for now. If we let her go she'll only go squealing back to the leaf." he gave a toothy smile. "Besides, I might find a use for her later on."

The men took no time to bind the kids with thick ropes by tying their hands together behind their backs. Quickly they packed up camp and started to move through the woods. Bolt kept his head down, trying desperately to think of a way out of this, but nothing was coming to mind. He looked at Sarada who was looking down as well. His eyebrows dipped.

"Sarada…"he whispered to her. She ignored him. He wanted to apologize but knew very well that even an apology would not make up for this. So instead he just sighed. "This is all my fault."

"Yes," she said back, still not looking at him. "Yes it is."

* * *

><p>When Naruto burst through the front door of his house, the sound of quiet sobbing from somewhere inside met his ears immediately. Without taking his shoes off he ran down the hallway towards the living room. Sitting on the sofa was Hinata, crying silently as her sister Hanabi sat beside her, holding her hand. Hiashi was sitting across from them, a look of concern on his face, and his house maid, Natsu stood behind him frowning. Naruto crossed the living room and knelt down in front of his wife, looking up at her, worry in his eyes.<p>

"Hinata…"he said in a whisper. "What happened?"

Hinata shook her head. "H-he's gone..."she cried, her voice cracking slightly. "W-we can't find him…a-anywhere."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Hiashi. He merely shook his head. "I made sure my men searched the compound thoroughly. He was…nowhere to be found." he confirmed. Naruto looked back at Hinata.

"Mommy…"

Everyone looked over to see Himawari standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes sleepily. It was easy to tell she had just woken up. Hiashi nodded to Natsu who walked over to her.

"Mommy…what's wrong?"

Natsu picked up the young, sleepy girl and held her close. "There's nothing to worry about Hima-chan…you should be asleep, it's so late." She went back into the hallway with the child.

Naruto placed a hand on Hinata's knee and gave it a light squeeze. "Hinata, we'll find him. He is surely just somewhere around the village. You know him. It'll be okay."

She nodded at him words, calming down a bit. A silence filled the room, the only sound being Hinata's light sniffles. Until however a quiet knock was heard from the front door. Naruto got up.

"See," he said sincerely. "That might be him now. Nothing to worry about." But he barely believed his own words.

When he got to the door, and opened it carefully, he almost scared to see that it wasn't his son. And sure enough it wasn't, but instead a pink haired ninja, one who Naruto knew too well. Her hair was tied back into a short ponytail; she had her usual red dress on, the one that proudly sported the Uchiha symbol on the center of her back. Her face looked worn.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto's voice sounded surprised. He had grown up with the girl, she was one of his closed friends, but ever since they had started their own families, they had grown apart. It wasn't very often he got to see her anymore and when he did it was always at something either work related or for the children. Sakura gave him a weak smile.

"Hello Naruto," she addressed, bowing her head slightly. "Sarada isn't here, is she? I just got home from the office and noticed she wasn't in her bedroom or in the house at all. I already tried Chouji's house, but she wasn't there so I figured…she might be with Bolt"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Bolt's missing." He replied causing Sakura's hopeful demeanor to fall. The clockworks in Naruto's head began to work. If Bolt was missing it was one thing, but Sarada Uchiha. She was one of the straightest kids Naruto knew, top of her class, an excellent ninja, never got in trouble. If she was missing as well, there was definitely something wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

**So I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, I knew what I wanted to happen but I feel as though I just couldn't find the right way to put it down, but I really hope its okay ! I also don't think it helped that I wrote it at 2 o'clock in the morning ahaha I'm sorry if its a little sloppy, or even just plain bad! It won't happen again, I promise.**

**Anyway, I probably won't have another chapter up until after Christmas, so Happy Christmas to anyone who celebrates it, and happy holidays to everyone else :)**

**Enjoy, and review please!**

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><p>"Kurama…"<p>

The large red eyes of the nine tailed fox drifted open. He had been curled up inside his realm, all nine, long bushy tails resting around him like pillows. His head rose from lying on the ground and he looked down at the human who stood before him, Naruto Uzumaki. It had been a long while since the two had last spoken, even though the giant fox lived inside Naruto himself, he was always far too busy to check in, though Kurama didn't mind. He spent most of his time sleeping anyway.

**"Kit?"** his voice boomed with a yawn, surprised to see the Jinchuuriki standing there in front of him. **"Long time no see."**

"I need your help." Naruto's voice was desperate; Kurama immediately knew something was wrong. "Bolt was taken. I don't know who by and I don't know where they are now."

**"The brat?"** Kurama thought for a moment. He had never met Naruto's children directly, but he knew of them. Often he would find himself listening in on Naruto's conversations with the two younger Uzumaki's, he learnt much about them this way. He knew that Bolt's favorite color was red, and that Himawari loved to sing. He also knew that Bolt had a wild temper, and could be somewhat spoiled at times, but this was probably due to the fact that Naruto spoiled him rotten when he was younger, a huge change to when he became Hokage.

"I need your help. I need you to contact the other tailed beasts, tell them if they see anything, or sense anything in their districts to let you know as soon as possible so you can tell me. Sakura, Kiba and I are going to try to track him, but help is always appreciated. Especially since you guys live in almost every country. If whoever took him had any jutsu that could teleport them, they could be anywhere."

Kurama pushed himself to his feet, his many long tails trashing around behind him, crashing into the watery ground below, causing water to splash up. He nodded his head, narrowing his beady eyes at Naruto.

**"I cannot promise you their cooperation."** he said, his voice deep and serious. Naruto's own eyes narrowed, and he shook his head slightly from side to side.

"All I need is for you to try. That's all I'm asking."

The fox took a deep breath. He had promised himself that after the war he wouldn't get involved in the humans silly antics, it was time to lie down and relax for another century or so, but how could he deny his host? Over the course of their life together, Kurama had grown very fond of Naruto, and as much as the whiney voices of his children sometimes scratched at his nerves, he did find them rather cute. In an ugly human kind of way.

**"I'll do what I can…"** he sighed. Naruto nodded.

"Thank you."

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><p><strong>Five Hours Earlier<strong>

Naruto's eyes flashed open; his pupils were small horizontal slits against his now yellow irises. He was sitting in his chair at the office of the Hokage's tower, Hinata, Shikamaru, Sakura, Hanabi and Hiashi all standing around him, their eyes filled with false hope. Especially the silver eyes of Hinata and emerald eyes of Sakura who were both now tinted red and filled with tears. Naruto's eyes slowly returned to their natural color of blue and he shook his head, looking his wife in the eyes.

"They're not in the village, or anywhere around it as far as I can tell…"

"Impossible…there's no way they could have gotten that far in a matter of a few hours." Hiashi said, looking at Shikamaru for some sort of agreement. But Shikamaru had no words to give him for he was at a loss. It was true, they were young children, just mere genin, they didn't have the experience or knowledge to use jutsu that effectively to get them that far away in a short matter of time. There was a pause in the room as everyone waited for Naruto to say something, anything.

"Naruto…" Sakura voice was weak. He looked up at her just in time to see a tear roll down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it away. "What should we do?"

He took a deep breath before standing up out of his chair, placing both hands flat on the desk in front of him.

"We'll look for them, there's a chance I just….missed them somehow." Although it was a lie, he said it anyway. There was little to no chance his sage mode had missed sensing their chakra; if they were close to the village he would have been able to sense them for sure. Unless they had somehow found a way to block their chakra, but that was unlikely. But they needed somewhere to start, and this was the only way he could think of how to do it. He turned to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, Kakashi is still away, isn't he?"

Shikamaru nodded his head. "He and Guy are not due back for another few months, unfortunately."

"That's what I thought." Naruto thought for a minute. "Go get Kiba and find Sai. Right away. We're going to try to see if we can track them at all. "

Shikamaru once again nodded, turned on his heels and left the room quickly. Naruto then turned to his father-in-law.

"Do you think you can ask some of the Hyuuga to look around the outskirts of the village to see if they can see anything?"

"I'll gather as many as I can."

Before Hiashi left the room, he placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder, whispering a few words of comfort into her ear before rushing out of the room, Hanabi at his heals. This was going well, Naruto knew for a fact that with the Hyuuga looking, as well as some of Konoha's best trackers, it wouldn't be long before they'd find the children.

He was alone now in the room with the two sniffling mothers, and for a moment he didn't know what to do in order to comfort them both. But before he even had time to figure out some sort of plan, Sakura straightened up, wiping her eyes with her hands.

"Naruto, may I ask a request of you?" she asked. Her voice was horse, and cracked slightly with the question, but she was doing her best to stay professional and he knew that. He straightened up as well, in order to seem equally professional. Hinata looked to her side at Sakura. He cleared his throat.

"Of course, Sakura-chan, anything." he agreed. Whatever she wanted, he would do for her. It was true that the two had grown apart from their childhood friendship, but he would still do anything in the world for the girl. He loved her, always did, and always would. She was like a sister to him, and if she was hurting, it was like a part of him was hurting as well. Besides, she had nobody at this point. She had her parents of course, but it was very different from her immediate family. Sasuke was off on his own mission, and Sarada was gone. It had been years since Naruto had to face the world alone, but he'd be lying to himself if he had said he had forgotten what it felt like. He knew exactly what Sakura was feeling.

"I was wondering…if I could use one of village's best messenger birds. To send a message to Sasuke."

Naruto understood, and of course would say yes. Sasuke had to know, it would be cruel to keep it from him. Honestly, he was a little surprised Sakura even had to ask him, although he knew that it was probably the right thing to do, but she should have known he would say yes. So he told her so, and she too was off in a hurry. Naruto was left with Hinata who had been extremely quiet the entire time.

He looked at her, watching as her empty stare gazed out the window behind him, into the darkness of the night. Naruto frowned and carefully walked around his desk towards her, once reaching her he wrapped his arms around her small body, tucking her head under his chin and holding her close. He could feel her body move with every breath she took and it comforted him a bit. The two of them stayed silent for a moment.

"He ran away…" Hinata's small voice muttered, breaking the silence. There was no emotion in her voice at all, and the monotone caused Naruto to stretch his neck back in order to look down at her, surprised. "I….I yelled at him….I never yell."

She turned to face Naruto, but she didn't look up at him. Her eyes stayed glued at his chest. She felt too guilty. What would he say if he found out that his only son had run away all because of her, she knew he wouldn't blame her of course, but she knew deep inside it was her fault. Naruto gripped her shoulders, shaking his head.

"Hinata…"

"He's been having such a hard time lately and I just….yelled at him. I'm sure that's what happened. I got mad at him and he got angry and…"

Naruto's grip tightened and he shook her slightly, finally causing her to look up at him. They're eyes met, silver and azure locking together. Again, he shook his head.

"This, is not your fault, Hinata." He said sternly. "If anything, this is my fault. I don't know why you yelled at him, but you probably had every right to, you're his mother. I'm the one who hasn't been there; I'm the one who missed his graduation ceremony. This is my fault. Not yours. Do you understand?"

Hinata paused, her eyes searching his for any hint that he was just trying to make her feel better about her mistakes. When she found none, she nodded her head slowly, and tears began to stream down her face. Naruto pulled her into a hug, and she wrapped her arms around him, her hands clutching at his shirt.

"I'm sorry I haven't been there…" Naruto mumbled, burying his face into her hair, taking in her scent. "I should have been there."

"Y-you're busy with work…" Hinata cried, her tears soaking through to his skin. "There was n-nothing you could do."

"But I still should have made it."

Hinata pushed herself away from her husband's grasp, looking up at him again. He reached one hand up and rested it against her cheek, his thumb brushing away a tear that was staining down her cheekbone. Her eyes drifted closed and she leaned into his touch.

"And Hinata…we will find him. If he did run away, he'll come back. There were times I wanted to run away from the village when I was a kid…I even tried to once."

The memory came back to Naruto immediately. It had been before he had turned genin, his early academy days. He couldn't remember clearly what had happened to provoke it, but on his way home from training by himself in the woods, he had been ganged up on by a few other students and unfortunately didn't stand a change as they beat him senseless, calling him names, poking fun at the fact that he had no family. When he had finally come to, it had started to rain. He was just laying there, on the forest floor, soaking wet from the rain that poured down on him. The only thing he had thought about in that moment was not the fact that he had just been beat senseless, but instead the fact that there he was, alone, with no one to go home to, no one to ask if he was alright, or no one to give him a hug to take away the pain. He was just alone. Forever and always.

Instead of going to his apartment from the woods, he shakily got up and just started to run through the forest, the rain masking his face to hide his tears. He had made it only so far before tripping on a tree root that was sticking out of the ground, falling right on his face into the mud. After a few moments of lying, face down on the wet ground crying, Naruto finally got up and trudged back to the village, feeling wet, cold and miserable. He wasn't upset that those days were long over; he would never miss them at all.

"You did?" Hinata questioned, her tears finally subsiding. Naruto nodded, giving her a slight smile.

"Yup! I didn't last very long though," he gave a slight chuckle. "That's why I think for sure Bolt will be back, before we know it! If he's anything like me."

Hinata smiled weakly. "Which he is."

Naruto's chucked turned into a full out laugh. It was true, Bolt was more like Naruto then Naruto was sometimes. He didn't know how that was possible, but it was. The boy had inherited many of his traits, right down to his love of ramen.

Hinata sighed and stepped away from Naruto walking around to the other side of his desk and sitting down in his chair, sighing.

"I hope you're right. I don't know how I'm going to be a mother of three if I can barely keep watch of two…."

Naruto's ears perked and he had to do a double take of her words, running them through his head over and over again until finally the clockworks stopped.

"You mean…" he started; looking at her, his heart began to race. Realising her slip, Hinata gasped at herself, eyes widening and she looked at him. Well, it had been said now, there was no point hiding it any longer. She nodded.

"Sakura told me this morning at my appointment. I'm pregnant."

Naruto couldn't do anything other than smile, and after rushing around the table, embraced her tightly. He was happy for her, happy that they were now expecting a new member of their family, but now wasn't the perfect time for celebration. When everything calmed down, he would plan something amazing for them, a vacation, or at least a special night for Hinata and himself. But for now all he would do was hold her.

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><p>It didn't take too long for Shikamaru to return with a tired looking Kiba, who held a sleeping puppy in his arms, and Sai who was dressed in his ANBU attire, minus the mask. Hiashi and Hanabi also came back with about a dozen other Hyuuga members. Naruto instructed them all to look around the outskirts of the village, the Hyuuga's would boarder one half, and Kiba, himself and Sai would border the other. He then told Hinata to go find Sakura and to keep her company while they looked, knowing that she was probably somewhere all by herself, Shikamaru agreed to go with her. They all took off.<p>

Naruto, Sai and Kiba took the section of woods that was straight ahead of the villages gates. After illuminating their way with a few lanterns, Sai right away took out his sketch book, drawing a handful of ink rats. They sprung to life off of the paper and after being instructed to look for anything suspicious, they took off in different directions. The three men began to walk down the road.

"Alright, Ayumi, go on!" Kiba chimed, shoving one of Bolt's T-shirts that Naruto had grabbed from his house under his puppy's nose. Unfortunately the small white dog was fast asleep still, snoring as a small bubble of snot blew out of her nose with each breath she took. Kiba huffed. "Come on girl….this is no time to be sleeping."

Naruto and Sai both watched as the scruffy man tried to nudge the dog awake. Finally she gave a small yawn and her eyes blinked open.

"No offence Kiba…but Akamaru was definitely a better ninja hound." Naruto mumbled as he scratched the back of his head. Kiba snorted and pet Ayumi on the head as she stretched out her hind legs, standing herself up.

"Bah, she's just a pup. She'll get better." He said. Ayumi took one smell of the shirt before putting her nose to the ground and walking off. Kiba smiled proudly. "See!"

They followed her for about two or three miles, before finally she collapsed again falling asleep. It took longer than last time to wake her up, and when they did she veered off the path into the woods. Following her they soon found themselves standing at the base of a cliff. Naruto feared the worst as Sai took a flashlight out of his bag and pointed it down to the bottom.

"There are too many trees in the way, I can't see anything…" he said, shaking his head at Naruto. Panic set in and Naruto looked down himself.

"Bolt? Sarada-chan?" he yelled. No answer. Closing his eyes quickly, he once again activated his sage mode, concentrating solely on the chakra around him. Nothing other than the people he knew was around him already. He frowned. "Nothing…"

Ayumi began to bark, her voice loud and high pitch. Kiba scratched his bearded chin.

"Maybe we should go down just in case?" he suggested. At first Naruto wasn't too sure about the idea, his hope that they would find anything down there was slim, but he soon decided to go.

They jumped down the cliff, landing swiftly on the ground and looked around. Right away Ayumi ran past them and began to bark ferociously at something that lay on the ground right by the cliff. Something that Naruto recognized. Bolt's backpack. He rushed over to it and picked it up in his hands. It was open, and a flashlight that had been left on was lying on the ground beside it, its light almost dead. He picked that up as well, inspecting it. Kiba came over to look too.

"Those Bolts?" he asked as Sai headed off into the woods. Naruto swallowed.

"Yeah." he replied. They were Bolts, there was no denying it. But sadly, the boy himself was nowhere to be found.

"Well…the light was still on; maybe he's around here somewhere."

"No, I would have sensed him."

"Naruto! Kiba! Come quickly!"

It was Sai's voice, calling from somewhere in the woods. The two friends quickly looked at each other before taking off in the direction of the voice, Kiba quickly collecting Ayumi, who had once again fallen asleep, into his arms. They ran until finally catching up with him. He was standing in a small clearing, where a pile of burnt sticks and logs sat; obviously it had been a fire pit. Naruto looked around, seeing that a few trees were broke and there were scratches in the dirt, it seemed as though a struggle had taken place. He heart sunk deep in his chest.

Sai shone the flash lights light on the ground. Multiple foot prints could be seen in the dirt, multiple footprints…including what seemed to belong to at least one young child.

"These foot prints, they look like they could belong to a child." Sai said calmly, still looking around. Naruto nodded, knowing he was right. And if memory served correctly, the pattern that the footprint was designed in was the same swirly patter that was on the bottom of Bolt's sneakers. Yes, he was definitely here, and there had definitely been a struggle with someone else. But they were no longer here, and he didn't know where they were, but it made sense. If Bolt was with someone older, perhaps a ninja, it would be easier for them to escape quickly, either by using ninjutsu or they could have even put some sort of chakra blocking seal on Bolt to protect him to make sure no one could sense his chakra, or theirs. And there was no doubt in his mind that Sarada was with him.

"This doesn't look very good…" Kiba grunted, more to himself then to anybody, but Naruto had heard him and he couldn't agree more. This looked terrible. Suddenly, rage swam through his veins. Somewhere, someone had his son, and he wanted nothing more than to find them and break every single bone in their body, whoever they were.

Naruto turned around, the sun was starting to come up now, it was no longer as dark as it had been only moments ago. Had they really been out all night? It didn't matter.

"We're going back." He snapped, causing the other two to look around. "We're going back, and then I'm going to find my son."

"But you don't even know where he went!" Kiba pointed out.

"I know, that's why you're coming with me."

Kiba's eyes widened. "But…you were the one who said Ayumi sucks as a ninja hound!"

"And you said she'll get better. Kakashi is out of the village, I want a ninja hound. You fit the bill. You're coming."

With that Naruto sprung out of sight. Sai and Kiba exchanged a quick glance at each other before following the Hokage back towards the village.

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><p>Hinata, Shikamaru, Sakura and the Hyuuga's were already waiting in the Hokage's office when Naruto and the other two returned. Hiashi told Naruto that his men had sensed nothing, but Naruto told him not to worry, that they had found the lead they were looking for, which was that they actually knew that Bolt was definitely not in the village, and that he had been taken by someone else, or at least had tried to flee from them.<p>

"What about my daughter?" Sakura asked, worry in her voice the moment Naruto had told them it had looked like there had been a struggle. His blonde eyebrows dipped as he looked into her green eyes.

"I…don't know. It was hard to tell if she was with him…but I can assume she was."

Sakura understood, but tears still found their way to her eyes.

"Don't worry though, Kiba and I are going after them. We'll find them, and bring them home as soon as we can. I promise you that."

"Then I'm coming too." Sakura said with a nod. Naruto looked at her but did not object. As a parent he knew that she needed to do this. It wasn't until Hinata spoke, that he finally had to become a little sterner.

"Me too," she said, her silver eyes narrowing. The Hokage immediately frowned.

"No." was all he said. She blinked and looked at him, hurt swam through her expression.

"No?" she questioned. All eyes on the room fell on the couple. "Why?"

"You know why. I'm not putting you in any kind of danger. Who knows what is really going on, and until we find out, I can't guarantee you're safety."

No one seemed to understand what was happening expect for Hinata herself, and Sakura, although Hinata continued to look hurt. He was worried about her pregnancy, she understood that, but she didn't see why Sakura could go find her child, while Hinata was stuck in the village waiting. It was cruel. Of course none of the other objected to the Hokage's orders though, and soon they were packing to go.

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><p>Before heading to the gates of the village Naruto decided to ask a favor of the Kyuubi that resided inside of him, desperate on finding where this person or persons had taken his son. Kurama agreed to help, making Naruto feel slightly better, he honestly needed all the help he could get. He had no idea what this ninja was capable of, or if they were even a ninja at all for that matter.<p>

Slinging a backpack over his shoulder, Naruto looked around. He along with Hinata, Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba, Hiashi and Hanabi all stood before the gates of Konoha. Kiba's girlfriend Tamaki and his old dog Akamaru both stood beside him, Tamaki pulling him towards her to kiss her passionately.

"You didn't have to come see you me off ya'know." he murmured through her kiss. She gave him a look and backed away. "It's six o'clock in the morning. I know how much you love your sleep." He flashed her a toothy smile, causing her to playfully smack his arm.

"Of course I wanted to come see you off! I wouldn't miss it."

Kiba leaned towards her, nuzzling his nose against her. Akamaru huffed out a loud sigh, and shook his head, his long floppy ears whipping around his face. Tamaki giggled and Kiba looked down at him, giving him a light pat on the head.

"Aw, sorry boy. You can't come this time, this is Ayumi's mission. You're gonna stay here with Tommy and her cats instead!"

Akamaru grunted sadly in response.

"Be careful." Hinata said to Sakura and the two hugged each other tightly. Sakura gave her a light squeeze before pulling away.

"I will. And I'll bring our babies back." She gave her a smile, nodding to assure her that her words were true. Hinata smiled back.

Naruto cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone else, they all looked at him.

"Shikamaru," he called at his right hand. "You're in charge until I get back…I know you're going to think it's troublesome, but it's what has to be done."

Shikamaru sighed, but he nodded nonetheless. Naruto turned to Hinata, walking swiftly over to her. He leaned down and quickly pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back.

"I love you." he whispered, pulling himself away although he wished he could stay there with her for longer.

"I love you too. Bring….bring him back…"

Naruto smiled at her, though his eyes were filled with worry. "Of course. I promise you, and you know me…"

"You never go back on your word…I know." She smiled back and they quickly kissed again. This time their kiss was longer, more passionate. It was interrupted soon however by someone grabbing the back of Naruto's backpack and yanking him away from her.

"Let's go already!" Kiba snickered as Naruto turned around to see who had pulled him. Both he, Ayumi and Sakura were waiting for him. "We got a lot of road to cover."

"Right."

The three ninja said their final goodbyes and finally took off down the path, leaving the Hyuuga's and Shikamaru standing there. Hinata watched until her husband disappeared into the horizon.

"He'll find him, sis." Her sister said from beside her, linking her right hand together with Hinata's left. "Naruto's an amazing ninja."

Hinata didn't need to be told that, she knew all too well. She always had known that.

"I know."


	6. Chapter 6

**Another chapter up ! School has started again so I won't be updating as regularly, but this fic will be finished definitely by June. I hope everyone is liking it so far :D. Please review, again it helps a lot.**

**Enjoy^_^**

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><p><em>Why is the sun up already…<em>

Bolt struggled to keep his eyes open as his feet drug themselves across the dirt road. He had no idea how long he and the others had been walking, or how far they were from Konoha, but they hadn't stopped walking since they had gotten captured by the four other ninja, so he could only assume they were far enough. His blue eyes slowly shifted to look at the girl who was walking beside him. She looked equally as tired as he felt; her dark eyes falling closed every few seconds, only to flutter open again, trying to prevent herself from falling asleep. Bolt licked his dry lips, looking back ahead of him where Gento and Kokatsu walked; they were speaking with each other silently.

"Hey," Bolt called up to them. Gento looked back at him over his shoulder. "We're tired and thirsty."

"Boo-hoo." Gento's lips pulled into a smile and he turned back around to face ahead. Bolt scowled. "We're not stopping until we reach the boarder, so stop your whining."

"That's impossible. We can't go that long without water." Sarada piped up. Although she looked tired, her voice didn't sound it at all. "We won't reach the boarder until tonight, at least. We're only kids, if you expect us to-"

Before she could finish, Kosui, who was walking behind her, grabbed a fist full of her black hair and tugged roughly, pulling her closer to his body. Her head snapped backwards, and her eyes clenched shut from the pain. A small cry escaped her lips, causing Bolt's eyes to narrow into slits.

"Why don't you keep your pretty little mouth shut?" Kosui mumbled as he bent down, pressing his mouth into her ear. A snide smile played on his lips.

"Kosui." Gento had turned around once again, but this time he bore no smile. Instead his tone was more like a warning. Kosui frowned, released Sarada's hair and backed away from her. Gento continued to look at him, before returning his attention to Kokatsu. He nodded at him. Kokatsu nodded back and grabbed a small water poach that hung at his side. He abruptly stopped walking, almost causing Sarada to walk right into the back of him; luckily she stopped herself in time. Everyone else stopped as well.

Since their hands were bound behind their backs, Kokatsu himself opened the water pouch and tipped the slightest amount into their mouths, giving them only a taste of the cold liquid each. Once they were finished they continued on their way.

About an hour more passed of walking, and finally Bolt couldn't take it anymore. Collapsing to his knees on the ground, he didn't care one bit what Gento or the others would say, he wasn't walking any longer without rest.

Hearing the child slump to the floor, the others stopped walking and looked at him. Bolt looked up at Gento, his blue eyes cold towards the older men.

"I'm not walking any further."

To both Bolt's and Sarada's surprise Kokatsu's dark eyes softened in agreement as he turned to his leader.

"Gento, perhaps a rest would do us well. We're far enough ahead by now; no one will catch up if we take a small break."

Gento pressed his lips together and thought about it for a moment.

"Fine, but only a short one, half an hour at most." He looked at Bolt and Sarada. "If you two insist on getting rest, then rest. We won't bite." Another toothy smile.

Kosui shoved Sarada, causing her to fall to her knees beside the young Uzumaki. The twins walked past the kids, chuckling to themselves before joining the other two. The two watched as Kokatsu took small packages of food out of another small pouch, handing it to each of his comrades. Bolt could feel his stomach turning with hunger at the sight, he hadn't eaten in almost two days, and he was finally starting to feel it again. If only he still had his backpack, he could have eaten some of the food he had packed.

"We really should get a little bit of sleep." Sarada mumbled, falling over so that she was now sitting on the side of her left leg and bottom.

"I don't think I can sleep with them here. We should be trying to come up with a way to get away from them."

"Bolt, we haven't slept in hours, we need our strength. Besides, I don't think it will be that easy to escape from them, we'll need a well thought out plan, and even that might not be enough." She nodded her head towards Kokatsu. "That one's a sensory type. That's how he knew I was in the forest. It's going to be near impossible to evade him."

"I don't care; we can't just sit here and do nothing! We're ninja."

"No, we just became genin yesterday. I'd hardy classify us as full-fledged ninja."

Bolt looked away from her. She was beginning to get on his nerves, much like she always did. It was bad enough that he was taken in the first place by these goonies, but of course he had to be captured with the most irritating, bossy know-it-all in Konoha. He couldn't even attempt to get them out of there without her correcting him about something. He wanted nothing more than to say screw her and just leave without her, he could take the sensory type, Sarada had taken him down easy enough. But his conscious was preventing him from being that cruel. Even though he didn't particularly like her, he couldn't bring himself to just leave her there to fend for herself, especially after the insinuating innuendo's that were made by Gento and Kosui. The last thing he wanted was for her father and mother to come after him if anything happened to her; they were both intimidating as hell.

By the time he looked back at her, Sarada's eyes were already closed; she was still sitting up but her head had fallen, her chin pressing into her collarbone. Her mouth was opened slightly and a soft breath could be heard as she exhaled gently. She was asleep already. Bolt blinked as he looked at her. She was fairly cute; he had to admit, especially when she was quiet like that.

He stiffened when he realized what he was thinking about her and mentally kicked himself for it. He then decided to see what the other men were up to, and side glanced over. They were still eating their food and talking. Gento was loudly boasting about a woman he had met in the Land of Tea, every once in a while he would stop to laugh about something. None of them were paying attention to the kids; perhaps they assumed they were asleep. And maybe because they were tired, Kokatsu wouldn't be as in tune with his sensory abilities. Bolt began to look around at his surroundings. They were off to the side of the path, closer to the woods. If he could wake Sarada up and they could make it into the brush, then maybe they could get far enough away or even find a place to hide. Unfortunately all of Bolt's weapons were in his backpack, which he had left at the cliff; save for a few kunai and smoke bombs that were in a small pouch that was attached to his leg. But with his hands tied, there was no way he could reach it.

Adjusting the way he was sitting, Bolt leaned closer to his companion and quietly spoke her name, trying to get her attention and wake her up. It took a few more times before her eyes batted open and she looked up at him, slightly dazed from sleep.

"I know you think we can't do it," he began in a whisper. "But you need to trust me. This won't end well if they manage to get to the boarder, you heard that guy, no one will be able to catch up to us fast enough. And even if it doesn't work, even if they catch us again, at least we've bought ourselves some more time."

Sarada was quiet, and for a minute Bolt thought that she was about to argue with him, but to his surprise she nodded.

"Okay…we can try. If you think it will work."

Bolt looked once more at the four men, they were still talking. If they could just roll one at a time into the forest, as quietly as they could without them seeing them, then that would give them an opening. Then they would have to run as far as they could into the forest and find somewhere to hide until they could figure out what to do from there.

"It will." He explained to her his plan. She agreed with him that there was a slight chance it could work, _if_ Kokatsu was off his game. They both lay down on the ground in a comfortable position, Sarada had said that it would probably be the best thing to do just in case, it would seem as though they were going to sleep that way. After a few moments of laying, Bolt quickly and quietly rolled until he reached the shrubs of the forest, then as fast as he could he pushed himself with his feet until he was under it, being careful not to break any of the branches. The baddies didn't seem to notice, and after another minute, Sarada did the same. They had made it into the woods at least. The kids carefully inched their way deeper into the woods until they were no longer under the bushes. It was a slight struggle to get to their feet, what with the handicap of having no hands to help them up but as soon as they did they took off.

Running deeper and deeper past the trees, the sound of Gento's loud voice rung out and immediately they began to run faster. Well that hadn't taken long.

"They know!" Sarada panted. Bolt didn't answer; he was too focused on an obvious clearing that was ahead of them. He could hear running water; it sounded as though a river was up ahead, if they could make it in time, a river could be just what they needed. If it was fast enough they could jump in and escape them that way. Again their hands might be a setback, but it was their best option.

"Up ahead…there's a river…we'll jump in!" he instructed. Behind them they could clearly hear branches breaking as the angry four pursued them. There was definitely no other option. The clearing was almost upon them, they were nearly there.

"BOLT!"

As soon as the two had broken into the clearing, Sarada had screamed his name, stopping him from going any further. His heels dug into the ground just in time, stopping him from running over a sheer drop. Bolt leaning his upper body to look down the cliff before him. There was a river alright, but it was at the bottom of a large canyon, jumping in would be suicide His heart sunk.

"There is no way, we can jump into that." Sarada whined, looking down as well. He knew that, but he wished it wasn't true. It was too soon to be caught; they hadn't even made it five minutes on their own. He had to think of something else quickly. But before he even had time to turn around, he felt the same, slimy, gooey arm wrap around his legs, twisting itself up to his knees. He looked around and saw that Kosui had got him, a cocky smile spread over his lips. He quickly looked at Sarada; Gento had her by the neck, his large fingers coiling themselves through her hair. His wild eyes looked back to Bolt, who was trying his best to stand his ground and seem tough. He narrowed his eyes back at the man, pursing his lips together. Gento shook his head.

"We respect your wishes, and this is how you repay us? By toying with out trust?" he mused, his voice calm and collected. Bolt's eyes angered further. He wanted to come up with something clever to say back to him, but at that moment, Gento's hand hardened around the young girl's neck and he lifted her into the air. Immediately she began to struggle against his grip, trashing her body around as her face began to turn scarlet. "Well, if you like to play games, then you should know there are often consequences with every wrong move you make."

He extended his arm; dangling Sarada's wiggling body over the cliff. Bolt's body jerked as he tried to run towards him, forgetting that his legs were now bound, and he fell face first into the dirt, smacking his head on the hard ground. His ears filled with a ringing sound, and when he opened his eyes his vision was fogged with confusion, but he tried to forget about that, it wasn't important at the moment.

"Let her go you bastard!" he screamed, although because of the echo that he heard in his voice, he had no idea if that was what he actually had said. Gento made a fast clicking sound with his teeth, one that a mother would make if their child had done something wrong. He was enjoying this, he was the one playing games.

"If you insist."

Right away Bolt knew that he had spoken the wrong words and mentally panicked. Hoping that he had enough time before the man's large hand opened and let the Uchiha heir fall to her impending death, Bolt said the first thing that came to mind. "You don't want to do that!"

Kosui laughed behind him, but Gento's grip didn't budge. Instead he looked at Bolt, curiosity spiked his attention.

"Oh? And why don't I?"

"She's the heir to the Uchiha lineage! The only heir. Imagine how much money would be paid to get her back."

Realization dawned in Gento's eyes and he looked down at Sarada, examining her closely. "The heir to the Uchiha?"

"That's right. You want your leader to have Konoha right…that's why you've got me? Well…this way you could pocket some money for yourself, you could be rich."

Sarada's face was now blue, life was beginning to leave her and Bolt knew it. Luckily his words seemed to work as Gento retracted his arm and placed her back on her feet, although her strength was obviously weakened, because as soon as his hand left her throat she fell to the ground coughing and gasping for air. Straightening himself up Gento smiled greedily.

"It seems you do know the rules of the game after all kid." he chuckled, brushing his hands together as if he was getting dirt off of them. Slowly stepping over to Bolt, he crouched down and roughly grabbed his face with one hand, squeezing his cheeks tightly. Bolt's jaw began to ache but he ignored it and just stared deep into Gento's eyes. "But if you try something like that again, I can't promise something won't happen to her." He shoved Bolt's face to the side before retrieving his hand. Bolt worked his jaw by opening and closing it a few times, he wasn't sure but it felt as though Gento's grip might have locked it into the wrong place as it was throbbing so much. Kosui's arm slowly slid off of Bolt's legs and instead wrapped around his wrists, pulling him to his feet. Shiki who was now beside Sarada did the same thing, giving her a slight push in the direction that Gento and Kokatsu were now walking. Bolt hurried to walk beside her, her face was still slightly pink, her eyes bloodshot and there was a clear bruised handprint visible around her neck.

"Are you okay?" Bolt asked quietly as they walked behind the others. She nodded her head quickly.

"He turned hard,"

Bolt raised an eyebrow and immediately felt strangely awkward and disgusted at her comment. His blue eyes flew to look at the back of Gento, he knew that he was somewhat of a pervert from what he had heard him tell the others about the woman he had met, but this was just creepy, he had a good eighteen years on Sarada. Instinct made him want to run up to the man and kick him hard between the legs; a kick would surely make whatever was hard, un-hard pretty damn fast. Sarada looked at Bolt and noticed that his face was flushed and he was looking angrily at Gento. Noticing her poor word choice and lack of explanation she felt her face heat up and immediately shook her head, although part of her was a little flattered that Bolt had turned protective.

"I mean his hand! His hand hardened around my neck, it was weird….almost like it wasn't skin anymore but…stone or something."

Bolt looked back at her and felt slightly stupid for his misunderstanding and averted his eyes from her.

"O-oh….that makes sense though. When we first found them at their campsite, he punched right through a tree trunk. He must be able to…I don't know…solidify his skin or something."

"That's what I was thinking too."

There was a slight pause. Ahead of them, Kosui and Shiki were arguing about something, luckily hiding Bolt and Sarada's conversation.

"We didn't buy ourselves very much time…" Sarada broke the silence. She was right; his plan hadn't really worked at all, much to his dismay. All it had done was get them into trouble and almost got Sarada killed. But he had faith that his father would be there soon to find them, he was a strong ninja, all the stories that his parents had told him when he was wonder proved that. These guys should be no match. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

><p>Hinata hadn't slept at all. After Naruto, Sakura and Kiba had set out, Hiashi and Hanabi had walked her home. Natsu who had been babysitting Himawari agreed to stay with Hinata in case she needed anything, and had been tending to the house ever since. Hinata tried to keep herself busy with her knitting in the living room, she had been planning on making her children brand new mittens for the winter, and even though it was still much too early to wear them, it was the only thing she could think of doing to keep her mind off of her missing son. But unfortunately when she had started on one of Bolt's red mittens her mind immediately flashed back to him and she soon found herself wiping away tears from her eyes.<p>

"Good morning mommy!" A pair of children's arms wrapped themselves around Hinata's neck from the back of the couch. She hadn't even noticed Himawari thumping into the living room and jumping onto the back of the couch to embrace her mother from behind, but as soon as she snapped out of her trance, Hinata leaned the side of her face into her daughter's hair. "What's for breakfast?"

"Hima-chan!" Natsu had heard the child bounding into the room and had dropped whatever she was doing to come and claim her. Both Hinata and Himawari looked up to see her waking into the room with a large smile plastered on her face.

"Natsu, you're still here!" Himawari let go of Hinata and ran to the house maid, hugging her tightly around the waist.

"Of course, I'm helping mommy out a little bit today. So I'll be making breakfast." She replied with a smile. "What would you like?"

Himawari back away from her and thought for a moment, pressing the tip of her index finger against her lips. "Hmm, I think….maybe….eggs!"

"Sounds good to me! Hinata-sama, would you like anything?"

Hinata gave a weak and tired smile, her eyes glazed over with lost thought. "Perhaps some tea…"

"Of course." Natsu bowed before holding out her hand to the girl in front of her. "Come Hima-chan, help me with the eggs."

"Okay!"

Himawari took hold of Natsu's hand and they both left Hinata alone again in the living room. She continued to watch the stop they had been standing for a few minutes before changing her gaze to look out of the window. From where she sat, she could clearly see the large Hokage monument that sat on the far side of the old section of the village. She had remembered a time when only four faces sat amongst the rocks, looking down at the village below, but now three more joined them, including her husband's.

_Naruto-kun…_

Hinata stifled back a sob that was trying to push its way up her throat. When had everything become so complicated? It wasn't too long ago that she and her family were happy, they had never fought, and Bolt and Naruto's relationship was what it should be. She understood Naruto's job was important to him and she knew that he deserved to be Hokage more than anyone else. But deep inside she resented it, and that was what she felt most terrible and guilty. She would never tell anybody, let alone her husband, her only wish was for him to be happy, but ever since he had become Hokage things were different and it was hard. He was barely home, they rarely every had family time anymore, and their intimate times together were limited. Not that she was still the sex driven young woman she had once been when they had first started dating, but she missed being able to just hold each other whenever they wanted, she missed having random lunch dates at Ichiraku with him when Bolt was at school and Himawari was at a friend's house or with her sister or father. She missed going out with her entire family and not having to worry about being home so Naruto could finish his paperwork on time or hand something in for a deadline. She missed everything.

A knock at the front door and the sound of Natsu's quick shuffling feet caused Hinata to look back towards the hallway. She could hear a quiet young woman speaking, along with Natsu, and then the door shut. She wondered for a moment who it could be. Ino perhaps, or maybe Tenten or Temari? It wasn't Hanabi, she was going on a mission that afternoon. But who finally came into view was nobody she had been expecting, and was instead the fifteen year old daughter of Hinata's old sensei, Mirai Sarutobi, a large basket in her arms. Hinata looked at her in shock.

"Hello, Hinata-sama." she said with a bow of her head, before clearing the living room and stopping right in front of the couch where Hinata sat.

"Mirai? What are you doing here?" Hinata questioned. It had been a long time since she had seen the girl, and she seemed even more beautiful than the last time. With her mother's eyes and her father's thick black hair, she was rather stunning.

Mirai smiled and placed the basket down on the coffee table in front of Hinata. "My mother, she heard about your son and wanted me to come give you this. It's not much…"

Hinata placed her knitting to the side and peered into the basket. Three loaves of freshly baked bread sat inside, still steaming with heat. Kurenai had obviously just baked them and they smelled amazing.

"Mom wanted to come…but she's been in bed sick for the past few days so I came instead."

"So you baked these?"

Mirai blushed slightly and gave a bashful nod. "Y-yeah. It was mom's recipe though. She wanted me to make something nice for you."

"You didn't have to Mirai, but thank you." Hinata gave the young girl a sincere smile. She really was a polite girl; Kurenai had done a fine job raising her, Asuma would have been proud.

Natsu rejoined them in the room with a freshly brewed pot of tea and some cups. Hinata told Mirai to sit and join her for tea, she happily agreed and Natsu poured them both a cup before returning to the kitchen.

"So…what exactly happened?" Mirai asked slowly, not wanting to sound too nosy. Hinata looked down and took a deep breath.

"Bolt and I…we had a small fight and he…he ran away. And because of that…well…" she took a small pause, not wanting to say the rest of her explanation. Mirai leaned closer into her, a look of somber curiosity on her face. "They think he was taken by someone."

Mirai's heart sank. She had indeed heard from her mother that the boy was missing…but being kidnapped by someone, it was a mother's worst nightmare.

"Surely Lord Seventh will be able to find him. Mom always say's there's nothing that man can't do."

Hinata smiled at the comment. That was very true; Naruto had surprised everyone from day one for accomplishing things that no one thought he would ever be able to accomplish. And that was because he never gave up. Once he put his mind to something, he would not stop until he achieved it, that's what she admired most about him. It was what helped Hinata pull herself out of the darkness she had been stuck in as a child; it had made her stronger. But now here she was, once again left behind, once again weak. She understood that Naruto was worried about the baby but how did he expect her to sit there while her other baby was in someone else's hands, having who knows what done to him.

Mirai watched as Hinata clenched her firsts. "Hinata-sama?" she whispered, furrowing her eyebrows. Hinata ignored her. Naruto and the others had only left that morning. If she left now, she could catch up to them in no time, and then Naruto would have to take her with him. Well…he didn't have to but she would refuse to go back. It was her duty as a mother.

Hinata stood abruptly, she hadn't even touched her tea, and Mirai's gaze followed her. "Hinata-sama…are you…going somewhere?"

Hinata finally looked down at her, determination swimming in her pupiless eyes. "I'm going to find my son."

Mirai's crimson eyes widened. "A-alone? Hinata-sama…with all due respect, I don't think that is a good idea. How long has it been since you've been out on the field?"

Hinata didn't bother thinking about the question. "How long will it take you to pack a bag?"

Mirai's eyes only got wider. "What? Um…I don't know…not too long. But I have a mission tomorrow morning."

"This is your mission now." Hinata's eyes narrowed and she looked out the window again, staring at the Hokage monument. "I'll contact Shikamaru and let him know. You're coming with me."


	7. Chapter 7

**So this chapter is a little bit short, which I'm not very happy about :( but its honestly all I had time to write, school has been so busy. Luckily I have spring break coming very soon so hopefully I'll be able to get another chapter (possibly two more) up at that time :) Enjoy guys ! Review please :D**

* * *

><p>"<em>You want me to what?"<em>

"_Pardon Mirai from her mission tomorrow. I need her to come with me."_

_ Shikamaru looked up from the paperwork he was filing at Naruto's desk, his brown eyes staring dumbfounded at Hinata who was standing tall in front of him, arms at her sides. A moment of silence went by so Hinata decided to further explain._

_ "I'm going after Naruto and the others; I need someone to come with me."_

"_Naruto instructed you to stay here," Shikamaru relied calmly, placing the papers in a neat pile on the far hand corner of the desk. "He's the Hokage, you know as well as I do that I can't go against his orders."_

_ Hinata's eyes narrowed. "I'm his wife. That must get me some seniority. And I'm telling you that I'm going, and she's pardoned. Find someone else for the mission."_

_ "I can't just find someone else, Hinata. She's a Chunin, leader of her squad. Trying to find someone else would be such a hassle that can be easily avoided."_

_ "She said it was just an escort missi-"_

"_And being the wife of the Hokage does not in fact grant you any seniority over me, his right hand. So I'm sorry. But the answer is no."_

_ A bitter silence filled the office. Hinata's eyes stayed narrow as she stomped closer to the desk, slapping her hands flat against the surface, hard. Shikamaru looked up at her, he had never seen Hinata this angry before, it almost reminded him of his own wife. Almost._

_ "Do you have any idea what it feels like to have your child go missing and you're not even allowed to go look for them? I'm his mother and I'm sorry but I don't give a damn whether or not you or Naruto or anyone for that matter says, I'm going after him and Mirai is coming with me. So you better find another Chunin to go on this mission because whether you agree to this or not, we will be gone as soon as possible and you will be one squad leader short tomorrow. Do you think Temari would just stand by while her child was taken by someone outside of the village?"_

_ Shikamaru's eyes shifted downwards as he thought about it. Of course he didn't really need to think about it all that much, he knew the answer. Of course Temari wouldn't stand for it. If Shikadai was kidnapped, she would be the first one out of the village to destroy whoever took him. But Temari was strong, much stronger he was sure than most men, Hinata was so small, so frail, and completely out of practice; ever since Bolt had been born she had retired as a ninja, and although she had kept up with her martial arts, he wasn't sure how agile she was anymore, what with having two children. But nonetheless, when he looked back at her he could easily see the determination and worry in her expression. She was right, she was Bolt's mother and keeping her from trying to find him wasn't the right thing to do. _

_ Sighing deeply Shikamaru sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. _

"_Even if I was to let you go, you know I wouldn't be able to send just the two of you."_

_ "We'll catch up with Naruto and the others in no time. They only left a few hours ago; they couldn't have gotten too far." Hinata's voice was calm now, her usual whisper. Shikamaru sighed once again and nodded his head slowly. _

_ "Fine. I'll recall Mirai from the mission…"_

_Hinata couldn't help but smile as she pulled her hands away from the table and once again put them at her sides. _

_ "Thank you, Shikamaru."_

**_FLASHBACK END_**

They had been traveling for what felt like hours, but still there had been no sign of Naruto and the others, even with the help of the byakugan. Hinata was beginning to wonder if they had been going the right way, if perhaps they had gone a different path and now were only getting further and further away from where they were supposed to be going.

Hinata stopped running for the first time since she and Mirai had left Konoha, she was completely out of breath and her legs felt like jelly. It had been far too long since she had been out like this, since before Bolt had been born, and she couldn't help but feel a little discouraged that in only a few years she had gotten so out of shape. Of course she still trained with her father and sister in martial arts every week, but she was no longer used to running for long periods of time like this.

Placing her hands on her knees she bent over, panting softly as her vision burned from a head rush that was swarming through her mind. Mirai stopped beside her, and looked down at her worriedly.

"Hinata-sama…are you okay?"

Hinata nodded but said nothing. She swallowed deeply and stood up straight again, her head rush only worsening. She wondered for a moment if her being pregnant was somehow making the situation worse, but pushed her thoughts aside to once again activate her byakugan. Still there was nothing.

"Do you see anything?"

"No." She looked around once more. "I don't understand, they couldn't have gotten that far."

"Perhaps they went a different path."

Hinata took a deep breath. "How long have we been traveling?"

Mirai looked down at her wrist where a thin leather watch sat. "For about an hour and a half."

The older woman frowned. It had seemed a lot longer than that. "They couldn't have gotten that much further then, let's go."

Without wasting any time, Hinata took off once again, her arms stretched behind her. The younger Nin sighed before following her lead.

"Do you think Lord Seventh will be mad that we disobeyed his orders?" she shouted to Hinata who was still a few feet ahead of her.

"He'll understand."

All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of Hinata's neck stood up and she quickly spun around. Mirai, surprised by the sudden motion quickly grabbed her kunai that was in her leg pouch and clutched it tightly.

"What is it?" she asked, looking around wildly. Hinata narrowed her eyes.

"Someone's coming…" she whispered before activating her byakugan. It only took her a few moments to find the source of chakra she was looking for, and as soon as she did, she immediately recognized it.

* * *

><p>In the complete opposite direction from Hinata and Mirai, Naruto, Sakura and Kiba were still on the search. The trio had traveled for a few hours off road and through the woods before finally returning to a different path than the one they were usually used to; the one that led from Konoha to Suna, and they would have been a lot further, if it hadn't been for Ayumi constantly falling asleep.<p>

"Kiba….you had to pick the laziest dog in the litter, didn't you…" Sakura scolded as she looked down at the little white fluff ball that was currently laying spread eagle in the middle of the road, asleep. Kiba cast her an irritated look but said nothing; instead he prodded the dog with the toe of his foot, trying to unsuccessfully wake her up. Sakura merely shook her head at the sight before turning to Naruto who was sitting on a rock on the side of the path, staring blankly into space.

"Naruto…" she said in a hushed tone as she walked over to him, taking a seat beside him on the large bolder. Naruto didn't turn to face her; he seemed to be in a trance. She wanted to talk to him, to try to comfort him since she knew exactly what he was going through, but something deep within her was preventing her from breaking his trance, so she just sat in silence beside him, her thoughts bringing her to her husband and her daughter. It took about a full minute for her to realize she had started crying after that, and the only reason she figured it out was because she felt a soft, warm touch on her cheek, brushing away a fallen tear. Her green eyes shifted beside her to see that Naruto was now facing her, his hand outstretched, his expression worried. Sakura quickly brushed away the tears that followed that one and leaned into his hand that was still resting against her cheek.

"I'm sorry…"

She didn't really know why she was apologizing; perhaps it was because she had come over to comfort him and only ended up crying herself.

"Don't be. It's okay to cry, Sakura-chan. But you know we'll find her."

"I just don't know what they're going through, or who has them, or," she sent a quick glance towards Kiba. "if we're even going the right way."

She leaned away from Naruto and once again wiped fiercely at her eyes, slightly smudging what little mascara she had on. She wished more than anything that Sasuke was there to comfort her, to hold her in his arms and to tell her that they would find their daughter. She appreciated Naruto saying it, she loved Naruto, but it wasn't the same.

Ever since Sarada was born she had always been the perfect child. She was well behaved, polite, mature, smart and extremely obedient. Never once had Sakura not been aware of where she was or who she was with because, well, she was either at the academy, with Chouchou or at home. She never had to worry about her, but now things were completely different and it scared her to no ends. She was her only daughter, her only child, not to mention the only other Uchiha other than Sasuke, it was her duty to keep her safe. And yet here she was…

"Hey guys! Ayumi's on the move again!"

The two former teammates looked up and saw that indeed the small dog was waddling down the path. Sakura took a deep breath, and with Naruto's help, she supported herself against him to stand up.

"We're going the right way." Naruto's voice was quiet as he grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze. "Trust me."

Sakura nodded, and walked away from her towards Kiba and Ayumi. Naruto smiled after her, but he knew it was a fake one. He wasn't completely sure they were going the right way; he was more or less just hoping they were. But one thing was for sure, he knew they would find the kids, one way or another. He wouldn't stop searching until they were back in Konoha, even if that meant searching every single day for the rest of his life.

* * *

><p>Hinata immediately recognized the chakra that was quickly coming towards her and Mirai and she relaxed. She knew it was no foe, but on the other hand someone who could probably help them quite a lot.<p>

"Hinata-sama…" Mirai was still behind her, clutching her kunai. She swiftly moved in front of Hinata. "Stay behind me!"

Hinata deactivated her byakugan and shook her head. "It's okay Mirai; it's no one to fear."

Mirai looked over her shoulder at her superior only to see her smiling at her. Confusion swam through her only for a moment until she felt the presence of someone standing in front of her and quickly turned back around.

Her eyes immediately landed on a man's body. He was wearing a white shirt that was partially covered by a bulky black cloak. Her gaze traveled up his tall physic until landing on his face. Of course. The inhuman speed, the way he had reached her so quickly and quietly. She should have known. Sasuke Uchiha.

Sighing deeply with the realization that they were indeed safe she relaxed and put her kunai back into her pocket.

"Scared us…."was all she mumbled. Sasuke, whose one visible eye was red from his sharingan, looked back at the Hyuuga, his ebony hair messed slightly obviously from being tossed by the wind as he ran, and his face looked desperate. Hinata had never seen the expression on the man before, not that she could remember anyway.

"Any news?" was all he said, his voice low and hoarse. Hinata shook her head.

"It's only been a few hours. We're looking for Naruto and the others now."

Sasuke pushed passed Mirai and Hinata and began to walk, the two women quickly followed suit.

"Where are you going?" Hinata asked quickly, trying to keep up with his long strides.

"You're going the wrong way."

"How do you know?"

"I came from that way, and they weren't here. I can only assume."

A faint blush covered her cheeks, she felt like an idiot for asking the question. "I-I thought you weren't supposed to come back for another few weeks?"

"I finished my mission early. I was already on my way home when the messenger hawk found me."

"I see."

Silence filled the air as the trio power walked down the path. She had never very often talked to Sasuke, so she found it very awkward. He was so quiet, different. And now he was beyond worried about his daughter. She didn't know whether or not she should try to comfort him, tell him its okay or what. But before she could have time to come up with something, he spoke.

"How is she?"

She blinked; confused for a moment as to whom he was referring to. But then it hit her, Sakura.

"Um…as good as she can be, I suppose. She's very strong."

Without another word, Sasuke took off running, his cloak flaring in the wind behind him. Hinata looked back at Mirai whose crimson eyes met her own and she nodded to her. Mirai nodded back and with that, the two began to run after the Uchiha.


End file.
